University to nurture tech-savvy talent for the country’s development goals
Nancy Ip Yuk-yu, a national lawmaker and head of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST), said on Sunday that the city’s tertiary education sector is proactively embedding artificial intelligence (AI) with research and pedagogy, aiming to nurture more technology-savvy talent to fit in with the country’s national innovation-driven agenda.
In the Government Work Report delivered on Wednesday, Premier Li Qiang urged the extension of AI applications to more industries and scenarios, as well as enhancing innovation capacity in the education sector, to further drive the economy.
“Hong Kong is uniquely positioned to make contributions (to national innovation objectives) in both education and technological development,” said Ip, during an exclusive interview with China Daily.
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A few days before the Chinese New Year in January, the debut of the homegrown large language model DeepSeek raised the global AI race to a new height, drawing attention from national lawmakers and political advisers at the ongoing national two sessions — the annual gatherings of the National People’s Congress (NPC) and the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference.
Ip, a Hong Kong deputy to the NPC, said Hong Kong universities have embraced AI at an early stage and are continually exploring its potential in teaching and research.
“We have been training our students and teachers on how to use AI technology to really improve the teaching and learning experience, and have also enhanced our infrastructure on campus so that we can provide support for our students and faculty,” Ip said.
Last year, with support from the government, HKUST built an AI supercomputing facility and opened it to HKUST members and local institutions to support research capabilities related to AI, according to the president.
Ip said she believes that the city’s impressive research capabilities, bolstered by five high-ranked universities, and increasing fiscal inputs and additional resources, have readied Hong Kong to contribute to the nation’s AI initiatives.
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On Feb 25, the city unveiled its first homegrown generative AI model, called HKGAI V1, a collaborative project involving five local universities including HKUST, overseas institutions, and the SAR government’s InnoHK research and development platform.
HKUST has also organized many symposiums and forums with the Chinese mainland, and international partners, including academics and industrialists, promoting in-depth discussions on the ethics of AI applications, said Ip.
Beyond research, the progress of AI technologies has empowered HKUST’s commitment to nurturing interdisciplinary talent, a direction Ip feels will benefit the city’s development as well as the national innovation-driven agenda.
“We believe technologies such as AI are going to impact many fields, so our faculty and also our students need to learn how the technologies can impact on their fields of interest,” Ip said.
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As one of the three local universities that have indicated a desire to help establish the city’s third medical school, HKUST is preparing a written proposal that will be submitted to the government by next Monday.
Ip said the proposed medical school would integrate all areas of cutting-edge technology, including AI, data science and biotechnology into its four-year curriculum, hoping to nurture doctors that not only provide good patient care, but possess the research mindset to become technology innovators.
She also supports the SAR government’s initiative to recruit more nonlocal university students, which she said would foster a more diversified environment for talent and further enhance the city’s ties with global science communities.
