Lingnan University hosts international workshop where leading scholars analyse AI risks and ethical challenges

With the rapid development of Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI), the safety issues arising from the related technologies are gradually surfacing and have attracted widespread attention from the community. The School of Data Science of Lingnan University organised the “2024 International Workshop on Risk and Governance of Generative Artificial Intelligence” from 25 to 26 November at the Cordis Hotel Hong Kong, bringing together top AI experts and scholars from around the world for in-depth exchanges and interactions, and exploring innovative solutions to address the possible risks of generative AI through case studies, attracting more than 150 participants.

The seminar was held in the hybrid mode and featured 12 of the world's top AI experts, distinguished scholars and industry leaders. They come from renowned academic institutions and higher education institutions such as the Alan Turing Institute, the United Kingdom’s national institute for data science and artificial intelligence, the University of California, Berkeley, University of Bologna, Tsinghua University, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Microsoft Research Asia, etc., including Prof Yi Zeng, Director at the Brain-Inspired Cognitive Intelligence Lab and the International Research Center for AI Ethics and Governance, Prof Ansgar Koene, Global AI Ethics and Regulatory Leader at EY (Ernst & Young), and Dr Andrés Domínguez Hernández, Ethics Fellow of The Alan Turing Institute, Dr Minlie Huang, Professor of the Department of Computer Science of Tsinghua University, and Dr Jindong Wang, Senior Researcher of the Microsoft Research Asia, etc. They shared and discussed the latest development of generative AI in terms of risk and governance.

In his welcome speech, Prof Xin Yao, Vice-President (Research and Innovation) and Tong Tin Sun Chair Professor of Machine Learning, thanked all the speakers and guests for attending the workshop. He pointed out that as governments around the world were actively developing digital economy, constructing smart cities and developing low-altitude economy, generative AI would play an important role, and the risks of its use and governance challenges should not be overlooked.

Prof Yao said, “Artificial Intelligence is pervasive in our society and life, but while generative AI is booming, it has also led to a series of potential risks and may have an undeniable impact on the protection of personal information, social stability, environmental sustainability, and even national security. Lingnan University is committed to becoming a leader in responsible and human-centric artificial intelligence, with impactful research and innovations, and this workshop aims to create an open exchange platform to stimulate new ideas on potential AI risks and governance, and to tap into the forward-looking perspectives of leading research institutes around the world.” He hoped that through this workshop, it would facilitate academic exchange and cooperation among international AI researchers and practitioners and bring new breakthroughs to the global governance of AI by exploring cutting-edge technological solutions, policies and regulatory frameworks, as well as ethical and moral standards.

The workshop featured 12 invited speeches, and two panel discussions centred around AI safety in the era of large languages models, trustworthiness of generative AI, and risk control measures and effectiveness. The speakers shared their views towards the enormous potential of generative AI technology, which continues to break through the boundaries of traditional technology in a wide range of areas, including creative content generation, data analysis, and decision support, bringing unprecedented creativity and convenience to human beings.

However, experts have warned that the booming development of this technology would also bring a series of risks involving various aspects of society, including the disclosure of personal data and privacy during the data collection and storage process, cybersecurity risks, bias and discrimination of AI models, misleading public opinion and interfering with normal social decision-making through false information, disputes over the copyright ownership of generated content, and violation of human ethics and moral values, as well as products empowered by it to replace human beings, leading to job losses.

In addition, through case studies, participants analysed the risks arising from generative AI in different scenarios and explored innovative solutions to enhance the resilience of our society. Participants agreed that although generative AI poses challenges, they are pleased to see that the global community is actively seeking solutions to address and manage them.

Please click here to learn more about the “2024 International Workshop on Risk and Governance of Generative Artificial Intelligence”.