Tech & Future of AI Webinar
Recently, OpenAI, a U.S.-based artificial intelligence (AI) research company, released its first video-generation model: Sora, sparking excitement in the AI industry. In this era of innovation and transformation, the rapid development of AI technology is profoundly changing our daily lives, work and society. From speech recognition, speech synthesis, natural language processing (NLP) to computer vision, AI is widely applied in various fields. Whether in education, incubation or business transformation, AI technology is also leading the development of various industries.
On the evening of February 17, the third THINC Fellowship (2023-24) held its second online webinar, officially opening the discussion on the future impact of AI technology with the "AI Aspiration" group members. Combining two cases, the Tencent AI Chicken Soup Stall and the "Juewu RLogist," more than 50 on-site participants explored the influence of AI technology on the future.
Peter Carberry, privacy officer of Huawei Technologies, Alexandra Szomora, GSMA Senior Product Manager, Golden Nhunhama, Chief Operating Officer of eAgro, an AI agriculture company in Zimbabwe, Gerui Wang, a visiting scholar at Stanford University and lecturer at the University of California, Santa Cruz, and Tina Chen, a product manager at Microsoft, shared how they apply AI in their respective fields to better address work-related challenges.
Carberry stated that the topic of AI, broadly speaking, machine learning, is evidently forward-thinking, and we have an obligation to understand how AI affects our personal and professional lives. Currently, there is a lot of uncertainty about the future of AI in many industries, which requires further discussion.
Wang mentioned the heated debate about integrating AI technology into the fields of art and culture. She discussed how artists are actively exploring AI technology, collaborating with large language models or training their own models. Some artists are also experimenting with innovative projects in collaboration with autonomously designed robots. For example, Tencent integrates traditional Chinese culture into its game designs, collaborating with museums and other institutions to, for example, incorporate ancient mask designs into game plots. This not only emphasizes the combination of AI and art but also promotes innovative projects globally, showcasing the diversity and prospects of creative initiatives.
Chen shared her optimistic outlook on the future of AI applications. From ChatGPT to Microsoft Copilot, AI applications are becoming more diverse and powerful, allowing users to customize their AI models. However, she also pointed out some risks associated with AI applications, including ethical, social, legal and technical issues.
Golden highlighted the necessity of the collaboration between the universities and enterprises. For instance, enterprises working in the field of AI can provide mentorship and project-based learning opportunities.
Alexandra believes that AI will mostly help us increase efficiency and improve the quality of decision making. Another trend she mentioned is hyper personalization, which can be used in various sectors, from investments to health care.
Muhammad Yousif Shaikh, Deputy Secretary of the Finance Department of the Sindh Provincial Government in Pakistan, Kenmaru Suedomi, a data scientist from Japan, Moritz von Knebel, FAR AI Project Manager, Dhruv Aggarwal, SAP consultant, Ying Yau Kit Stanley, Co-Leader of HKUST Web3 Labs, and Yucheng Peng, CEO of iWillTech, shared their perspectives on the development of AI in different regions and fields.
Peng stated that the United States and China are leading global AI research and development, especially in tech hubs like Silicon Valley, Seattle, Beijing and Hangzhou. In the bustling modern technological landscape, AI has become a powerful revolutionary force. He shared the development of AI from the perspective of speech recognition, where AI systems transcribe spoken language into text with up to 98 percent accuracy. Furthermore, speech synthesis provides an opportunity to translate written text into spoken language, particularly aiding interaction with individuals with disabilities.
Ying Yau Kit Stanley expressed that AI will see new breakthroughs in the creative industry. General AI algorithms will be able to generate images and there are already a series of introduction videos.
Moritz Von Knebel explained that the United States is currently at the forefront of investing in AI startups, and China is accelerating this process.
Regarding intelligent energy usage, Suedomi introduced a project he is working on related to AI in factory automation and gas emission prediction. These data require a significant amount of energy and cloud computing resources, resulting in substantial energy consumption. Despite some challenges, Suedomi holds an optimistic attitude towards improving energy usage through AI in the future. Additionally, he hopes more people understand that an effective use of AI will bring more solutions to climate change issues.
