Sharing a Technological Vision

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is seeking to explore topics at the frontiers of science and technology and work out creative solutions to humanity's complex challenges with its Chinese partners. This was the aim of the recently concluded MIT China Summit in Beijing.

Supported by the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the summit has gathered some of China's most influential investors, entrepreneurs, government leaders and academics, as well as graduates and faculty from MIT, to discuss the mysteries of the human brain, new visions of artificial intelligence and the role of research and education in shaping tomorrow's world.

L. Rafael Reif, MIT's president, says the long-standing ties between the institute and China and the necessity of collaborating with talented people in China to tackle global problems, such as climate change, environmental degradation, food security and aging populations, were among the reasons for the summit.

"Since MIT enrolled its first student from China 140 years ago, students, faculty, alumni, staff and MIT's many great friends in China have built a wonderful bridge of connection," says Reif.

"More MIT faculty and students come from China than from any nation besides the United States."

MIT's associate provost for international activities, Richard Lester, says: "For MIT, it's important to work with the best people, facility and equipment. In many fields, we see Chinese researchers have been in the forefront. I think what we have today in the sessions are just a few of a much larger opportunity to cooperate with China."

McGovern Institute for Brain Research director Robert Desimone explained at one of the sessions how the institute applies AI and machine learning to create models that work in ways that resemble the human brain, allowing them to understand the brain's complexity.

He also discussed AI's potential to personalize education.

"Not all students are exactly alike, and they will respond differently to the same kind of ," he says.

"(With the help of AI,) they will have approaches that are suitable for a wider range of children, so they can all be successful."

The summit also invited researchers involved in a project named MIT Quest for Intelligence.

The project has two components-advancing the science and engineering of intelligence of both humans and machines, and using AI tools to enable scientific discoveries in other disciplines, according to MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Lab director Daniela Rus.

Rus emphasizes the necessity of being aware of AI's social implications as the technology is beginning to affect decision-making and people's actions.

"It's a field that has woken up to the importance of ethnics," she says. "That requires contributions from technologists, philosophers, ethicists, policymakers and business leaders."

She says they value the use of AI to create a better world-a vision shared by Liu Qingfeng, chairman of China's leading information-technology company, iFlytek.

Liu believes technological development will update production modes and improve social services.

"For example, machine translation dismantles the language barriers between people from different countries. In the future, patients in remote areas will be healed with the assistance of AI," he says.

"We should stand on the shoulders of AI technologies instead of being obsoleted by them."

Liu's company has cooperated with MIT in studies on unsupervised speech processing, biological mechanism of learning and subtle behavior to detect signs of cognitive decline.

He says a sound industry and university partnership ensures the application of on campus.

"China and the United States complement each other as the American universities boast outstanding innovation in fundamental research and prospective studies while China has a large number of users and a wide variety of situations for applying the achievements," Liu says.

"We'd better work together to push forward social development."

Yang Bin, vice-president and provost of Tsinghua University, agrees and adds that collaborative skills are also essential to students' comprehensive development.

"Cooperation among countries or people of different ages helps fuel innovative abilities and entrepreneurship in universities," says Yang.

Tsinghua has joined MIT's online educational platform where students can take graduate-level courses and earn a professional and named MicroMasters from MIT, he adds.

"The platform's users are of various ages, regions and industries," Yang says.

"This kind of diversity will enable our students to innovate."

(Source: China Daily)