Opening speech by S for IT at Chinese University of Hong Kong Technology Forum: "Artificial Intelligence over Humans?" (English only)
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Rocky (Vice-Chancellor and President of CUHK, Professor Rocky Tuan), C P (Dean of the Faculty of Engineering of CUHK, Professor Wong Ching-ping), K F (Director of the Centre for Innovation and Technology and Associate Dean (External Affairs) of the Faculty of Engineering of CUHK, Professor Wong Kam-fai), distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen,
Good afternoon. It is my great pleasure to be here at today's CUHK Technology Forum. We all know that with the wide adoption of Internet-connected devices and advancement of cloud computing technologies, artificial intelligence (AI) has become a mainstream technology today. It is also fitting that today's forum was organised by CUHK, which is a leading institution in AI research and commercialisation. Allow me, over the next few minutes, to share with you some facts about Hong Kong's AI development.
Our universities are home to world-class AI research talents. According to an analysis of academic publications on AI by Times Higher Education in May 2017, Hong Kong ranks third worldwide in terms of field-weighted citation impact on AI. Some four years ago, researchers at CUHK, led by Professor Sean Tang and Professor Wang Xiaogang, came up with a novel facial recognition system with deep learning with an amazing accuracy of 99.15 per cent, the highest in the world then. CUHK was the only institute in Asia that was named as a pioneer in AI research in the world-renowned GPU Technology Conference 2016. Professor Yang Qiang of HKUST is the first Chinese honoured with the Fellow of the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence, which is one of the highest AI honours in the world.
In addition, we have ample leading AI technology companies in the private sector. For example, SenseTime, co-founded by Professor Tang, grew to be a unicorn in just three years' time! Last year, relevant theses published by the joint laboratory of SenseTime and CUHK at the world's two top computer visual conferences, CVPR and ICCP, outnumbered the publications by Google and Facebook. WeLab, another promising start-up in Hong Kong which operates an online lending platform, utilises AI to come up with personalised lending proposals for its clients. These companies prove that Hong Kong has the right soil and advantages to develop a vibrant AI industry.
Recognising Hong Kong's strength, AI and robotics are among the four key focused technology sectors that the Government would like to promote. In the past three years, the Innovation and Technology Fund has supported 57 AI and robotics related projects with over $200 million. The Government will also adopt more AI in its services in public and city management. For instance, in the coming year, there will be six AI-related technology projects to be implemented by the Government, covering transport, customs inspection and cyber security.
In the Smart City Blueprint published in December 2017, we have committed to building the infrastructure to enable more application of AI in both the public and private sectors. For example, we will support more departments and public bodies such as the Hong Kong Airport Authority and Transport Department to adopt AI technologies to provide better public services.
On the infrastructure front, the ITB will build a new big data analytics platform within the Government by 2020, which will enable real-time data sharing among government departments, and facilitate development of big data analytics and AI applications. The installation of 400 plus multi-function lampposts starting from 2019 will also facilitate collection of real-time data to enhance our city management. We are also going to provide a free electronic identity or eID for all the Hong Kong citizens by 2020, and enhance government e-services and user experience with the help of AI and big data analytics.
I believe AI will help drive business transformation. I also believe AI will provide high value-added jobs. According to Gartner, it is estimated that AI will eliminate 1.8 million jobs, but also create 2.3 million better jobs by 2020. The market demand for AI talents and applications will be significant in the coming years. In closing, I have full confidence that Hong Kong, with the support of our universities, industry and entrepreneurs, will make its mark in the worldwide development of AI. I wish you all a very successful year ahead.
Thank you very much.
Ends/Thursday, January 18, 2018
Issued at HKT 15:58
Issued at HKT 15:58
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