The pervasiveness of artificial intelligence (AI) and its potential to revolutionize every aspect of life, industry and society, has made itself abundantly apparent in the past decade. From the original neural networks to machine learning to present-day deep learning, the era of availability and accessibility of large swathes of data has allowed more advancement in the area of AI than ever before. Establishing the Center for Artificial Intelligence Research (CAiRE) is not just timely, but critical, to meet the increasingly complex challenges faced by respective industries and society for streamlined, efficient and optimized research solutions through the use of AI.
Poised on the intersection between East and West, Hong Kong is at a cultural vantage point to develop AI research that encompasses the best of both worlds. The ubiquity of AI deserves a holistic and comprehensive research approach – fitting at HKUST where we underscore interdisciplinary and collaborative research. The establishment of an AI research platform fits snugly in our existing research infrastructure, facilitating joint collaborative research projects between departments, research units and individual faculty. More importantly, beyond advancing AI core technologies, CAiRE will embark on a mission to resolve the intricate governance and ethical issues that currently shroud AI, and set precedence for this untraversed territory.
The potential for AI research to revolutionize the way we relate to technology makes this concerted endeavor a meaningful one. We are excited to be part of the technological movement to craft and regulate AI and welcome the new and crucial addition to HKUST’s growing research enterprise.
Prof. Nancy IP
President
HKUST