The Role of Universities in Building an Artificial Intelligence Ecosystem - Insights from Professor Shen Yi, leading expert on Cyberspace International Governance Research and International Relations

By Weiwei “Jack” Fan, ASEF Higher Education Young Reporter

“ASEFInnoLab presents the opportunity to engage a multilateral platform, it plays a coordinating role in promoting the exchange of AI technologies between Asia and Europe, and allow higher education managers to participate in the formulation of a global common code of conduct for the AI ​​ecosystem.”

- Prof ShenYi, Cyberspace International Governance Researcher and International Relations Expert, Fudan University

Introduction

The 2nd ASEF Higher Education Artificial Intelligence (AI) Innovation Laboratory (ASEFInnoLab2), in partnership with the Fudan University, brought together 39 higher education manders and administrators across Asia and Europe to develop bespoke actions plans to advance AI Innovation Ecosystems in their universities.

ASEF Higher Education Young Reporter, Jack Fan, interviewed Professor Shen Yi who is a Professor with the Department of International Politics, School of International Relations and Public Affair, Fudan University, and the Director of the Fudan University Cyberspace Governance Research Center, and Director of the Fudan University Cyberspace International Governance Research Base. The interview was conducted on 10 December 2021 to discuss the growing importance of AI Innovation Ecosystems, the role of universities in advancing these AI innovation ecosystems, and the contribution of ASEFInnoLab.

Professor Shen Yi’s research work focuses on the governance of global cyberspace, emphasizing the formation of a benign behavioral norm in global cyberspace, and on the application of cutting-edge technologies including artificial intelligence and big data applied to advance human well-being. His research interests include the study of how major powers in cyberspace governance work to shape the behavioral norms that the world abides by, and explores how to balance the needs of the interests of different actors. Additionally, his research explores how to build a benign and orderly governance system between personal privacy, commercial interests, national security and economic prosperity, etc.

ASEFInnoLab: Promoting Partnerships Across Asia and Europe

According to Prof Shen Yi, the application of internet and technology is currently growing in popularity. However, economic and technological development around the world is uneven. Stakeholders are now realizing that artificial intelligence and technology will play a more important role in promoting the development of society. In this regard, China has made significant developments in the field of artificial intelligence technology and will continue to maintain rapid development.

In line with this,Professor Shen Yi spoke positively about the ASEFInnoLab project, emphasizing the growing importance of promoting partnerships across Asia and Europe to promote AI innovation ecosystems that attracts experts and leaders from diverse fields of study and is not limited to experts in the field of AI.

As presented by Prof Shen Yi, Fudan University has engaged in cooperative relationships to promote developmesnts in AI technology, thus the support for ASEFInnoLab to jointly promote the popularization and application of artificial intelligence ecosystems.

Based on China’s experience in building artificial intelligence ecosystems, China can collaborate with countries and regions that need support in developing such ecosystems.

Insights on China’s Rapid Development of AI Innovation Ecosystems

At the beginning of the interview, Professor Shen Yi told us that the success of China’s development first comes from social consensus. Thanks to stable government policy support and macro-strategic guidance, China has grasped the trend of information technology revolution and some chance opportunities since it connected to the Internet in the 1990s. , the development of Chinese society has made long-term progress.

At present, China has initially completed the transformation of informatization and digitization, and a large number of domestic and even international well-known Internet companies such as Alibaba, Tencent, Baidu, Meituan, Xiaomi, etc. have been born. Taking the mobile Internet as an example, the number of smartphone users in China reached 851 million in 2019, and the smartphone penetration rate has reached 60.8%. The wide application of mobile Internet technology not only brings unprecedented convenience to people’s lives and social development, but also accumulates massive data resources for China’s cyberspace. These data resources provide material support for the establishment of big data models and the application of algorithms. Enterprises understand customers through big data, conduct market research, etc. These behaviors have virtually laid a solid foundation for the large-scale application of artificial intelligence technology.

In addition, China has a relatively complete infrastructure, a benign education system, and a mature talent training mechanism. Under the joint guidance of a stable government regulation and strategic system, the application of artificial intelligence has been relatively successful.

China has made remarkable achievements in promoting artificial intelligence technology, but in the process, it has also encountered setbacks and problems. Professor Shen Yi took Meituan as an example to introduce us to the practical problems encountered in the actual application of artificial intelligence. In 2020, an article titled “Takeaway rider, trapped in the system” suddenly became popular on China’s Internet. It tells about a series of social problems that occur in real human beings under the management of artificial intelligence systems. As an ecosystem, artificial intelligence has a complexity similar to that of real society. How to keep different stakeholders in the system in a relatively balanced state and keep the system in a virtuous circle and development is a topic worthy of study.

Artificial intelligence involves elements such as privacy, human dignity, social benefits, including security, and such benign trust and stability in a broad sense. These things need to have a set of rules and other management. After the establishment of this rule system, a dynamic stability is formed among various goals such as individual dignity, social stability, prosperity, economic development, and national security.

“ASEFInnoLab is not a single project, but a system that involves multiple stakeholders, and we need to consider building a dynamic balance in a complex environment.”

Three Roles of Universities in AI Innovation Ecosystems

Universities can play at least three roles in building an AI ecosystem.

The first is that colleges and universities have a complete subject system and knowledge system, which can provide basic theoretical support for the development of artificial intelligence technology;

The second is that universities, as the cradle and incubator of the artificial intelligence ecosystem, universities can cultivate relevant skills needed by the artificial intelligence ecosystem, study the engineering application of artificial intelligence, and play the role and value of building a talent pool.

Third, colleges and universities, as natural consulting agencies, can provide the government with policy consultation and policy suggestions in the process of developing the AI ​​ecology. At the same time, colleges and universities can directly provide the incubation function of artificial intelligence, and operate in the form of incubators within colleges and universities. In the future, if other countries and regions hope to replicate China’s successful experience, universities will be able to act as an effective carrier to carry out various aspects of work. For example, foreign universities and Chinese universities establish cooperative relations, establish a platform for universities to universities, digest and transform the practice and model of artificial intelligence technology in universities, and finally form localized applications.

Examples of AI Innovation Ecosystems from Fudan University

Professor Shen Yi shared with us the work done by top universities in China, including Fudan University, to build an artificial intelligence ecosystem.

First, combine artificial intelligence with the discipline construction of colleges and universities, and set up a college specializing in artificial intelligence and big data. Then a corresponding curriculum system is formed under this college, and through the personnel recruitment mechanism, the best experts and scholars from China and the world are recruited to form a research team. Next, recruit students under the framework of this college, and form a rolling talent training mechanism through systematic education of students. It is equivalent to the adaptation of teaching to artificial intelligence, the construction of teaching departments, and then the establishment and improvement of teaching systems.

Second, build a community of researchers through research in colleges and universities. Through the collision of researchers, we publish articles in journals, publish books publicly, conduct internal discussions, form our own community, and form a benign atmosphere for technical personnel exchanges, so as to realize the self-iteration and evolution of the knowledge system. Scholars and researchers usually need to collide with their peers to produce effective knowledge. They can help each other and tend to sublimate in both theoretical research and practice. The second important function is to build a research platform, promote research centers, and invest in angel-level investment and funding when the research is in the initial stage and does not yet see commercial value, so as to ensure the smooth and sustainable development of the project.

Third, in the application and practice of specific projects of artificial intelligence, colleges and universities will be turned into natural incubators. Many Chinese colleges and universities now encourage college teachers to start businesses. Professor Shen Yi encouraged the establishment of a mechanism to allow teachers to engage in high-tech innovation and entrepreneurship. Fudan University has its own industrial park, and encourages teachers in colleges and universities to convert the research results obtained by teachers in the laboratory into products in a standardized way, and then accept the test of the market. There are many teachers who are multi-resident. He not only teaches and teaches in the school, but also may run his own company at the same time, as a very important member of an innovation team. Schools can create an environment of incubators. Artificial intelligence has a lot of content, and we can’t just stop at books and labs. Our goal is to turn it into a real usable thing by the end. In the process of product commercialization, teachers may not be familiar with the whole process, and colleges and universities can play the role of angel investment in the true sense to help teachers complete the incubation of products. Finally, as the initiator of research on policy advocacy issues, for example, colleges and universities may focus on various problems in the current society, from the middle design to artificial intelligence, they may conduct research, and then the results of this research may be transformed into legislation, that is When the country discusses the protection of personal privacy data in the age of artificial intelligence, university scholars can provide the government with very professional knowledge and help the legislative process to be better improved.

Conclusion

According to Prof. Shen Yi , the Asia-Europe Foundation has “established a multilateral platform with a superb position, creating an opportunity and a benign environment for experts and scholars to discuss and focus on the functional issues of artificial intelligence”. Professor Shen Yi believes that ASEFInnoLab should become an iconic activity and continue to be carried out. ASEFInnoLab can help experts and scholars identify talents, help to find specific needs, application scenarios and new effective resources. ASEFInnoLab, as a platform, should continue to strengthening its value and role to ensure that more outstanding talents are attracted to join. The Asia-Europe Foundation is encouraged to continue and promote the concept of artificial intelligence innovation ecosystem in universities in Asia and Europe, and establish a common principle, goal, and value.

Note: To learn more about the project visit the ASEF Website, click here.

The views and opinions expressed in this article are solely by the author(s) and do not represent that of the Asia-Europe Foundation (ASEF)​.
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