The opening ceremony of the 2026 Nishan Forum on World Civilizations was held on September 28 in Qufu, Shandong Province. During the event, Riccardo Pozzo, a visiting scholar under the Qilu Study and Research Residency Program, an Italian sinologist and philosopher, and Professor of History of Philosophy at the Tor Vergata University of Rome, shared professional insights in an interview on the value of Confucian wisdom in the AI era.

Riccardo Pozzo pointed out that China called for global AI cooperation on July 1, 2024. On July 26 this year, the Chinese government established the World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organization (WAICO) in Shanghai, with United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres also in attendance. This institutional initiative carries profound global significance. He stressed that AI should not serve commercial interests exclusively, but deliver tangible benefits to all humanity. Confucian thought centers on the pursuit of the "Dao," which embodies universal order. In this sense, establishing the WAICO is a practice deeply imbued with Confucian thought. It promotes coordinated global AI development and keeps the world from moving toward division, marking an enormous step forward for the advancement of artificial intelligence and indeed for human history.