LOS ANGELES, OCT. 9, 2023—The USC Center on Public Diplomacy (CPD) announced the 2023 recipient of the Ameri Prize for Innovation in Public Diplomacy.
CPD recognized Alexander Hunt, public affairs officer at the U.S. Embassy in Guinea, for leading the charge to integrate Artificial Intelligence (AI) into the embassy’s public diplomacy workflows, test drive AI, and advocate for its adoption across the State Department.
The annual Ameri Prize honors U.S. foreign and civil service officers for creative and scalable initiatives that advance global public diplomacy. The program was established by CPD in 2021, in collaboration with the U.S. Department of State, to promote the practice of public diplomacy at a moment when public diplomacy is needed more than ever.
Alexander Hunt assumed his role as Public Affairs Officer at U.S. Embassy Conakry, Guinea, in 2022. He was an early adopter of ChatGPT, using the AI tool to summarize news stories for media briefings, free up time for fieldwork, and measure public sentiment. Hunt’s work demonstrates how AI can be used to supplement human ingenuity, rather than replace it.
Prior to his work in Guinea, Hunt served in consular assignments in Mumbai, India and Quito, Ecuador. He joined the Foreign Service in 2016 after spending five years overseas, mostly in India. In that country, he managed an international exchange program, consulted for UNESCO, worked as a marketing strategist for a think tank, and taught world languages to foreign diplomats serving in Delhi.
The Ameri Prize was endowed by entrepreneur and diplomat, Goli Ameri. “As technology advances, diplomats and governments must adapt to new challenges and opportunities,” says Ameri. “Innovative public diplomacy initiatives, such as Alexander Hunt’s creative use of AI, leverage these technologies to reach audiences where they’re most active, enabling countries to share their narratives, counter disinformation, and build relationships in real-time.”
Past Ameri Prize winners include Alys Spensley, honored for her innovative work in Beijing applying social and digital analytics to expand the State Department’s social media platforms and grow users; as well as Gretchen Franke and Chad Houghton, recognized for developing a groundbreaking AI-based tool to counter disinformation in Poland.
“These dedicated foreign service officers so often work behind the scenes,” says Ameri. “The mission of this prize is to spotlight their important and impactful work, and to spur further innovation.”
About the USC Center on Public Diplomacy
Established in 2003 at the University of Southern California, the USC Center on Public Diplomacy (CPD) is a research, analysis and professional training organization dedicated to furthering the study and practice of global public diplomacy. Since its inception, CPD has become an ambitious and productive leader in the public diplomacy research and scholarship community and plays host to robust discussions about the future of public diplomacy. To learn more about CPD, please visit USCPublicDiplomacy.org.
###
