Politicians run the world, and we can take a snapshot as to how well this works out for the global good by watching the current international negotiations on climate change.

Climate change is gradually being addressed, but the process is extremely difficult, painfully slow, and incomplete.

And climate change is just one of the problems we face in our global future. What would it be like if we ran the world without politicians? Or kept them firmly within their spheres of influence, rather than allowing them to create roadblocks for global progress due to their particular mindsets. Two words: Donald Trump. He is not a visionary, he is a conservative who would keep the arms industry busy, and the teetering global economic system on its current trajectory. Hillary Clinton is of necessity, a pragmatist. Let us not bother to move on to the list of savage dictators in the world, and the religious extremists.

We need something new, a global plan that is unfettered by nationalist boundaries and posturing. Take a moment to think about how the world could be improved if competing national interests were taken out of the picture. How would we deal with the big problems? Take climate change, terrorism, the refugee crisis, economic inequality : are these problems insurmountable? Clearly, we cannot solve all problems of the human condition. But in a finite, interconnected world with a list of problems, it is clearly possible to start analysing the data to find solutions that are fair and principled, according to the global principles that we already have.

The amount of data we would need to achieve this analysis is huge. And the quality of data we would need to make quality conclusions is just not there. Look at the field of medicine, which is a great leader in the field of gathering quality data, and then analysing it and creating conclusions which are then applied in a global system of scientific medicine. Many lives are saved or improved, and of course many more lives would be saved if the knowledge system was to be applied completely around the globe. It has taken years and huge educational resources to achieve this consensus and quality.

But do we really need this quality of data to make a start? Or can our existing artificial intelligence capability start to sort through everything we have, find underlying patterns and themes, and start to build an integrated global plan? The answer, it appears, is yes. As long as the process is transparent, the conclusions don’t have to be perfect. We need integrated solutions now, not when we have developed our computing and data collection systems in all fields to the highest quality. We need input from the industry to see how this could be achieved.

We need an alternative to politicians, a global plan for global citizens to consider, and to act upon. Politicians are supposed to serve their people.

Their best service now would be to resource the development of a complex knowledge and solutions generating artificial intelligence, with the brief to find global solutions for our most pressing problems. These include climate change, preventing wars, natural disaster management, management of famines, water shortages, mass refugee movements, ending the escalation of arms production, and bringing fairness and equality into our global political life. I call such an electronic creation a “State of Mind.” That is, it sets up a global political system that can exist and guide, but not coerce. It can be chosen by global citizens, and actioned by electronic vote to start a peaceful process of transition. It would be paid for over and over if global conflicts could be resolved without guns and bombs.

What would politicians have to lose? The short answer is power. To create a better world, politicians need to stop spying on and trying to control their own citizens, and instead to give up a little power to an electronic regime that offers rational oversight and a plan. This may not be perfect, but it deals with the reality of global life, rather than historic lines on the map of unsuccessful human governance of our world.

We are gaining a more sophisticated understanding of what AI is and how we can relate to it nowadays.

Artificial Intelligence has been called the fine line between humans and machines, and it is probably time for us to assess where that line lies. It is probably where medicine takes its cues: First do no harm. In other words, the interaction between machines and humans has to benefit humans. This is possible. At this stage in development, we can plan, and legislate if necessary, for AI’s to be helpful. Just as, for example, computing technology should never be used for Governments to spy on their own citizens, it should not be used to destroy our world in the name of competing national interests. AI’s should be good global citizens.

We are starting to be attracted to AI’s rather than alarmed by them, and that’s a good thing. But we need to look ahead at their potential. Take a look at look at cars that drive themselves where you want to go, drones that fly where you want them to, friendly shopping AI’s that show you the best places to buy what you want : that’s where we are now.

But it isn’t where we should be. Ai’s have the potential to unlock the global solutions we need for sustainable living on our own planet. Each person can potentially use an AI to do their part in improving our world, with the help of their own global planner. An AI could help us make choices to benefit all of us, could create a global plan that we could all be part of, that we could vote for or against.

This is the real potential of AI’s and the internet, to change our world fairly, rationally, and transparently. Nations, because of their particular structure and tendency to paranoia, would rather spend billions of dollars on nuclear weapons, than spend the money on developing an AI to involve all global citizens in the changes we all need to make. How long would it really take to create an AI that would start to address the complex balancing act of competing interests and compile the data that would show us how to best end wars, feed people, deal with our increasing environmental issues and find a home for everyone? And then assist us to achieve that?

Would it take much longer than it will take to create the next generation of fighter bombers?

From this time forward,

I pledge my allegiance to a global State of Mind:

To take on the responsibilities of a global citizen in a global, local, and technological sense.

To create a global State of peace and enhanced democracy within my existing framework of governance.

To support a plan for sustainability of the earth and all its species, to support human rights, and protect the vital political functions of the internet.

The term global citizen is often tossed around by politicians without any understanding of its implications.

Global citizenship is an internet enabled concept that has the potential to create an overwhelmingly positive artificial intelligence, mediated by ourselves. It will create a global future in which our earth will be preserved from the calamities of global warming, nuclear war, conventional wars and the worst consequences of natural disasters.

The Global Citizen’s Oath foresees a future where being a good person involves global political responsibilities. Each person should have a global vote, and adhere to accepted global principles.  It will be our duty to stay informed about how our earth and all its species are to be maintained in a peaceful, sustainable environment, and to commit to a rational plan of action.

It is not seen to be in the interest of the political leaders of nations to advance or support such a concept, even though the leaders of democracies wrestle with global problems. The sharing of power is never easy, and the seeming stability of the present seems alluring, even when it is essentially a fantasy. Global warming and nuclear weapons threatens each of us, and our children. We can all see what is wrong with the world. Now it is is time to visualise how global principles, the great knowledge sharing and processing capacity of the internet, and the possibility of a universal global vote, can all come together to create a global citizenry capable of changing, in fact saving, our world.

Consider: What do you see as the responsibilities of a global citizen?

1. A universal internet vote to enable enhanced global democracy

2. Development of a global internet-mediated collaborative governance plan

3. Respect for human rights

4. Equality under a global legal system

5. Ethical open commerce enabling ecological sustainability and the welfare of all species

6. Outlawing nuclear weapons, and other weapons of mass destruction

7. Freedom of electronic communications guaranteed by a law against spy applications

8. Safeguarding of privacy of electronic communications

9. Collaborative global response in the event of natural disasters and conflicts

10. Collaborative governance for failed states

The term “global citizen” is thrown round by politicians, advertisers, communications companies,just about everyone seeking an inclusive term that sounds important.

But what is a global citizen, really? It is actually a term that carries the weight of our global future. Its principles are considerably more subversive than national politicians would like to think, because it carries the seeds of real global change. If we see ourselves as global citizens, we cannot possibly be happy with the problems we see in our world.

And if we are smart, we can see that change is not only possible, but necessary on a short timeframe. To achieve real change though, we need to set our principles and agree on them. The principles above have developed from the development of the internet and its global reach, international agreements on human rights, and the globally recognised need for our earth to be protected from global warming and environmental devastation.

To be a global citizen is to be a person working in their own way towards a better world. But global citizens need to join together as a community. In my book Survival Year I explore how such a community could work. If you search online, there are many groups of global citizens working to create a better future.

This is a serious endeavour.