The first Hong Kong Session in the World Artificial
Intelligence Conference (WAIC) was held on 8th July 2021 in HKSTP. The main conference was held in Shanghai. The
theme is “Connect the World Wisely, Together for City Success” (智聯世界，眾智成城). WAIC has been successfully running since 2018
and is co-organized by the Ministry of Science and Technology of China, the
Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Shanghai Municipal People's Government, and
other institutions. I am honor to meet Mr. Herbert Chia (Data Innovation Lab)
and get his signature on the book “Nature of Big Data”. We took a photo for memory in front of the
conference banner.
In the beginning, Mrs. Carrie Lam (Chief Executive of
the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region) gave an opening speech. She said Hong Kong supported the 14th
Five-Year Plan of Mainland China especially Innovation and Technology for data
science and AI, as well as cross-over disciplines. She also briefed two InnoHK platform
established to connect world-class scientist and invited them to R&D in
Hong Kong.
Then Dr. Sunny Chai (Chairman, HKSTP) gave welcome
speech. He said AI can innovate for different
industries. Science Park nurtured many startups and raised much funds and
investment. He also mentioned the Hong
Kong - Shenzhen Innovation and Technology Park and its concept that “One Zone,
Two Parks”.
And then all guests and speakers took a group photo.
After that Mr. Alfred Sit Wing-hang, JP (Secretary for
Innovation and Technology, Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative
Region) gave guest speech. He said that "Outline of the 14th Five-Year
Plan for National Economic and Social Development of the People's Republic of
China and the Long-Range Objectives Through the Year 2035" indicated clear
support for Hong Kong's development into an international I&T hub and the
Shenzhen-Hong Kong Loop has been included as one of the four major platforms of
co-operation in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA).
Finally WAIC Hong Kong connected with WAIC Shanghai
virtually, and organized an MOU signing ceremony with the University of Hong
Kong and the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology to join The Global
Artificial Intelligence Academic Alliance (GAIAA).
The first speaker was Prof Jiaya Jia (Founder, Smart
More Corporation Limited and Tenured Professor, The Chinese University of Hong
Kong) and his topic entitled “Core Principles of Artificial Intelligence and Intelligent
Manufacturing” (AI與智能製造的核心原則). Firstly, Prof. Jia said industry
went into intelligent era and he briefed the history that automatization in
1940, informatization in 1970 and intelligentization in 2020.
Then he explained Intelligent Manufacturing that the
key word is Intelligent. Automation is
only arm but Intelligent is brain of manufacturing! He then compared three
revolution core principles including generalization, fundamental resource and
feature of new technology.
After that Prof. Jia compared the characteristics of
AI Industry and Industry Scene that had many contradictions. Therefore, it was found difficult to
implement industry AI.
Finally, Prof. Jia said only system was able to integrate
algorithm automatically with few tailor-made design, AI cross industries for mass
production would happen. Lastly, he
introduced his company “SmartMore” and its solution for systematic integration
of AI and Industry 4.0.
The second speaker was Prof Lionel Ni (Founding
President, the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (Guangzhou)) and
his presentation named “AI Drives Cross-disciplinary Collaboration”.
Firstly, Prof. Ni briefed the history of AI and discussed
three peaks. He said machine learning become necessary tools in R&D.
Then he briefed their cross-campus and cross-disciplinary
collaboration within HKUST. He said no overlapping between HK and Guangzhou
campus so that they would cooperation rather than competition.
Finally, Prof. Ni introduced their AI driven cross-disciplinary
researches included Data Science + AI, IoT + AI, Computational Media and Art +
AI, Bioscience and Biomedical Engineering + AI, Intelligent Transportation +
AI, Smart Manufacturing + AI, Robotics and Autonomous Systems + AI, Advanced
Materials + AI, Financial Technology + AI, etc. Lastly, he raised some challenges
that incentivized AI expert to work with other domain experts and make deeper
impact, as well as the next big thing in AI after key deep learning algorithm
proposed in 2006.
