Timely forum examines breakthroughs and issues in AI and data science
Novel ideas and technological developments were shared and debated by world-leading scholars and experts at the highly anticipated Data Science and AI Forum 2023 (DSAI Forum), jointly organised by City University of Hong Kong (CityU) and Lingnan University (LU) from 30 to 31 May.
Professor Sun Dong, Secretary for Innovation, Technology and Industry of the Hong Kong SAR Government, Professor Freddy Boey Yin Chiang, President of CityU, and Professor Joe Qin Sizhao, Co-Chair of the DSAI Forum, Dean of the School of Data Science (SDSC) and Director of the Hong Kong Institute for Data Science (HKIDS) at CityU, officiated at the opening ceremony on 30 May.
“All opportunities arising from ventures like generative AI come with risks and costs. This technology and its wide application have caused heated debates on information security, privacy protection, ethics and intellectual property rights, to name just a few,” Professor Sun said in his opening address.
“There is yet to be a consensus on a universal approach to dealing with these contentious issues. Different economies or even organisations within the same sector, such as tertiary education, are working on the best practice,” he said, adding that any measures taken about AI must encourage innovation and creativity to nurture a better world.
Extending a warm welcome to all participants, President Boey said the forum was particularly timely for today’s ever-changing world. He stressed the importance of universities being more learning-centric, adding that he had spent the last few months considering how to focus on the learners more and how to help students learn by all means in order to make education not just about teaching pedagogy or teaching feedback.
“Today, because of technology, learning-centric is the way to go,” President Boey said. “People can learn a lot faster than you can talk in a lecture, and it is up to us to employ useful technology for education.”
He added that he would be delighted to see different sectors work hand in hand across the board, from digital computing, chemistry, humanities and law to the creative arts and design, and so on. “We need such horizontal superhighways in order for us to benefit completely from AI,” he said.
In his opening remarks, Professor Qin thanked Professor Leng Mingming , Co-Chair of the DSAI Forum, Chair Professor of the Department of Computing and Decision Sciences and Dean of the Faculty of Business at LU for the concerted effort in organising the forum, which was a joint effort complementing science with arts. He also mentioned the pioneering success of both CityU and LU in leading data science in Hong Kong, and there will be further collaboration between the two universities for greater societal impact.
The DSAI Forum featured keynote talks and panel discussions on risks and opportunities with generative AI, data science and AI for STEAM education, and healthcare and public health monitoring and management.
The DSAI Forum was co-organised by HKIDS and SDSC at CityU and the Faculty of Business and the Hong Kong Institute of Business Studies at LU. Keynotes speakers included Professor David Simchi-Levi of Massachusetts Institute of Technology, US; Professor Yao Xin of the Southern University of Science and Technology, China; Professor Jong-shi Pang of the University of Southern California, US; Professor Guo Yike of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology; Professor Jin Yaochu of Bielefeld University, Germany; and Dr George Lam, Chair of United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) Sustainable Business Network and former Chairman of the Hong Kong Cyberport.
For more details, please visit the official website: https://www.cityu.edu.hk/sdsc_web/data-science-and-ai-forum-2023/
