Research Agenda

The research agenda.

HSI publishes selected research questions so readers can see what is being investigated, what has been published, and what remains unsettled. Research status and intended formats are shown below. Publication dates are announced when confirmed.

Status legend
In productionDeliverable identified, writing underway Being scopedQuestion defined, scope developing Longer-termOn the agenda, not yet scheduled PublishedOutput available
Pillar I
Responsible AI

How institutions govern AI and adjacent emerging technologies as systems become more autonomous, adaptive, and embedded in consequential decisions. The work examines accountability, organizational design, deployment governance, and the institutional capabilities required when static rules are no longer enough.

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Published under this pillar
Where do MAS lifecycle controls, EU AI Act post-deployment obligations, FDA Total Product Lifecycle frameworks, and SR 11-7 evolution converge in operational expectations?
In production Horizon Scan 002
What does provenance and accountability require once synthetic media can be produced at institutional scale, and which controls actually hold?
In production Research Brief 003
Following Brief 002: how should the three lines of defense be reallocated when the first-line actor is a system rather than a person, and who then owns the risk across product, engineering, compliance, and legal?
Being scoped Research Brief
Pillar II
Human Performance

How people build, retain, and redeploy capability across education, entry into work, leadership, career transition, longer lives, and increasingly synthetic information environments. The pillar studies both individual agency and the institutional conditions under which people can continue to learn, decide, and contribute.

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Published under this pillar
  • Searchlight 018 · The Verification Gap: the oversight skill nobody is training · July 2026
  • Searchlight 016 · When a chatbot acts as a therapist · July 2026
What replaces the developmental function of entry-level work when AI absorbs routine tasks?
Being scoped Research Brief
How should institutions support mid-career capability renewal and workforce re-entry?
Being scoped Research Brief
How do longer working lives change the relationship among education, employment, pensions, and human development, and what protections do older adults need against AI-enabled fraud and manipulation?
Longer-term Horizon Scan
Pillar III
Planetary Futures

How institutions steward the systems on which long-term human flourishing depends, across climate, energy, infrastructure, the biosphere, and space. The pillar examines decisions whose consequences compound across decades, and whether today's institutions are preserving or foreclosing future possibilities.

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Published under this pillar
  • Searchlight 017 · The pledge is intact; the definitions underneath it are not · July 2026
What energy and grid strategies can support accelerating computational demand without closing off climate and resilience goals?
Being scoped Research Brief
When does long-horizon ownership produce genuine environmental stewardship rather than better reporting?
In production Searchlight series
How should governments coordinate around orbital infrastructure, space-based computing, and other dual-use space systems, and which present-day decisions preserve optionality around fusion, climate adaptation, and off-world infrastructure?
Longer-term Horizon Scan
Pillar IV
Governance & Diplomacy

How governments, companies, experts, and multilateral institutions coordinate when authority is fragmented and shared problems cross borders faster than formal institutions can respond. The pillar studies networked governance, institutional renewal, and structured dialogue across jurisdictions.

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Published under this pillar
What governance infrastructure supports cross-jurisdictional coordination on technology and AI when no single regulator has authority?
In production Horizon Scan
How can Track II convenings be structured to produce institutionally consequential outputs rather than commentary?
Being scoped Research Brief
How do institutions translate dialogue into structured agreement at decision-making scale?
Longer-term Research Brief
On this page

Current questions and publication status.

HSI publishes selected open questions for accountability, collaboration, and clarity about what has and has not been concluded. The page is not a publication calendar. Named leads are shown only when the site identifies them; otherwise the question remains an institutional agenda item. Relevant evidence or expertise may be submitted to research@horizonsearch.org.