10 April 202
The 8th edition of the Normandy Forum for Peace was held on 9-10 April 2026 at the historic Abbaye aux Dames in Caen in Normandy. Strategic Foresight Group has been partnering with the Normandy Forum since 2019, when it launched the Normandy Manifesto for World Peace, signed by Nobel Peace Laurates and philosophers. This year was no exception.
On 8th April, the day before the main forum, Strategic Foresight Group helped to facilitate a Masterclass on Artificial Intelligence for the current students, as well as alumni, of the College des Hautes Etudes de l’Academie Diplomatique (CHEAD), the diplomatic school of the French Foreign Ministry.
It was a full day session which began Francois-Xavier Priollaud, Vice President of the Normandy Region giving a background of the Forum, how it was conceived, its partnership model and his future ideas for it. Sundeep Waslekar, President of Strategic Foresight Group, ran the afternoon session, touching upon current issues associated with the governance of AI, including laws and frameworks developed by a few countries. He focussed on the dangerous direction that AI development was taking and the need to develop strategies to mitigate extreme risks of AI. He divided AI models into three categories- 1. Market perspective models that are available for commercial use and for the general user, 2. Mission dimension models that aid scientific discovery, 3. Menace creating models that are capable of production of chemical and biological weapons, self-replication and going out of human control. These are the models that need to be contained. It was an animated session with many questions and counter-questions.
Later in the afternoon, there was discussion on the Charter by Normandy for Peace for the Use of Artificial Intelligence in the Service of Peace. The Charter covers a wide range of issues, including the need for human control of AI and the prohibition of high risk uses. It concludes with the need for a Global Compact on Extreme Risks. Overall, the Normandy Charter enshrines the principle that artificial intelligence must remain in the service of peace, progress, and the security of all humanity. The Charter will be issued by the Normandy Region, once they have received further feedback about it from the students and other stakeholders.
On 9 April, Sundeep Waslekar participated in a debate “Can artificial intelligence serve peace?” It was moderated by François Mattens, Director of Public Affairs and Strategic Partnerships at XXII. The other panellists included Etienne Klein, Director of the Materials Science Research Laboratory at the French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA), Sandrine Turgis, Senior Lecturer at the University of Rennes, Specialist in International and European Law and Digital Issues and Catherine Morin-Desailly, Senator for Seine-Maritime and Chair of the Normandy Regional Council’s Committee on Culture, Tourism, and Heritage.
The panel debated on issues such as the accelerated decision-making and the risk of escalation when AI is used for military applications. As the hall was filled with students from the Normandy region, Sundeep Waslekar also focused on what kind of jobs the students could expect in the field of AI Safety in the years to come.