Tag: Hong Kong

Lingnan University was well represented at a recent prestigious conference that brought together leading academics and policymakers from around the region. The focus of the Times Higher Education’s Digital Universities Asia 2024, which took place in Bali from 1 to 3 July, was the transformation now being seen in two important areas.

One involved the steps academic institutions are taking to become more accessible and inclusive environments. The other centred on groundbreaking developments in the zone where education and technology intersect, in particular how innovative tools like generative AI will reshape diverse aspects of university life.

In a keynote speech, Lingnan’s President S. Joe Qin addressed the topic of “Reimagining Higher Education in the Age of AI”. He assessed the evolving impact of the digital revolution and what it means for curriculum content, teaching methodologies, research projects, and the overall concept of education in arts and sciences.

He noted that AI can already work on cognitive tasks, if not physical ones like cooking or cleaning. However, the rate of advances in autonomous driving, large language models (LLMs), and GPTs (generative pre-trained transformers) indicate the possibilities of using knowledge gained from data.

In May last year, ChatGPT was asked what it can bring to the field of higher education. The answers included easy access and enabling individuals or groups to generate content such as essays, poems, summaries, lyrics and code based on user input and preferences. Also mentioned were the feedback and suggestions given to improve content. ChatGPT claimed too that it can be integrated into liberal arts and AI courses and projects to enhance learning outcomes and engagement.

For universities, the key question is whether this will lead to some majors being discontinued and others being created or expanded. There are also implications for how students are taught, what skills are expected of them, and what is left to learn.

“We still want our students to build critical thinking skills, especially high-order thinking,” said Professor Qin, who is also Wai Kee Kau Chair Professor of Data Science at Lingnan. “And we need to instil our value system, so that we control AI, not the other way round.”

In July 2023, the university committed to making ChatGPT and subsequent releases available for everyone on campus. It also encouraged proposals for several new undergraduate programmes in arts and social sciences with more digitally relevant content. Starting in September 2024, all freshmen will take a common core course on generative AI to ensure they have the basic know-how and apply it.

Similarly important is a plan to promote the concept of digital humanities. The aim is to study the meaning and making of human culture, finding new insights through geographical information systems, data visualisation, network analysis, and text mining.

“History, for example, will become a lot more interesting and accessible,” Professor Qin said. “My message is that humans are at the centre of the post-AI world. In higher education, we have to adapt; we cannot expect to teach things that AI will replace effectively and efficiently.”

At the recent Global Sustainable Development Congress in Bangkok, Professor Xi Chen of Lingnan University delivered a keynote address highlighting the urgent need for groundbreaking solutions to combat climate change. As the Chair Professor and Dean of Lingnan’s School of Interdisciplinary Studies, Chen brought a wealth of expertise from his previous roles at Harvard and Columbia Universities.

Chen’s talk focused on the critical issue of “Addressing Climate Change: Negative Emission based on AI-Driven Evolution of Advanced Materials .” He emphasized that while reducing emissions through clean energy and energy efficiency improvement is crucial, it will not be enough to achieve carbon neutrality and combat climate change on its own. Direct air capture (DAC) of carbon dioxide and other carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) technologies are essential to actively remove greenhouse gases from the atmosphere.

“It is only the CO2 in the air that can affect our climate,” Chen stated. “The Earth has the capability of absorbing CO2 naturally through forests, the oceans, and the soil; however, even during the preindustrial period, that takes tens of thousands of years. Therefore, to rely on Mother Nature to absorb the huge amount CO2 we are now producing will be impossible.”

With atmospheric CO2 levels now reaching over 420 parts per million (ppm), Chen warned that besides global warming and extreme weather we are experiencing, the first critical threshold is 450 ppm, beyond which the oceans will become dangerously acidic, leading to the potential collapse of coral reef and endanger ocean ecosystems.

Economy growth heavily relies on energy, where the inertia of fossil fuel is massive and more CO2 will be produced. Chen estimated that even by the time of carbon neutrality, over 40% of carbon emission may still persist and that must be removed through engineering pathways.

Addressing this challenge, Chen highlighted the development of “moisture swing” materials that can capture CO2 effectively from air. Furthermore, his team developed multiple ways of converting CO2 into various products, closing the carbon loop in an economical way. He led the establishment of China’s first negative emission industrial park zone, and his overall effort of distributed carbon capture and utilization has been recognized by many awards.

Furthermore, Chen discussed the role of artificial intelligence (AI) in optimizing carbon capture and utilization technologies. He explained that existing AI systems like ChatGPT lack the specific knowledge required to enhance the performance of these systems. By encoding the necessary chemistry language and design principles, Chen’s team has been able to develop generative AI platforms that can predict and optimize innovative materials and processes for more effective carbon removal.

As the world grapples with the escalating climate crisis, Professor Chen’s work at Lingnan University underscores the critical importance of pursuing multifaceted solutions that combine cutting-edge technology, policy, and individual action. By addressing the challenge of negative emissions through DAC and CCUS, alongside AI-driven advancements in energy systems, the global community can take concrete steps towards a more sustainable future.

Please click here for details of Lingnan’s talks at the Congress.

Lingnan University in Hong Kong has set up a new School of Data Science in a move designed to lead the next wave of digital developments in the higher education sector.

The objective is to offer a range of interdisciplinary programmes from bachelor’s degree to PhD level, with a focus on the transformative impact of artificial intelligence (AI) and all aspects of data science. Each course will also emphasise the importance of critical and strategic thinking skills, with a view to making the school a centre for research partnerships and positioning Hong Kong as a global hub for innovation and technology.

According to Lingnan’s President S. Joe Qin, the goal is to pioneer understanding and use of AI and, in doing so, to become Asia’s leading liberal arts research university in the digital era.

At a special plaque-unveiling ceremony to mark the establishment of the new school, the attendees included notable figures from government, academia, and business.

Professor Dong Sun, Hong Kong’s Secretary for Innovation, Technology and Industry, took the opportunity to commend Lingnan’s initiative, noting that it was the beginning of a new chapter which would see greater integration of the arts, humanities and sciences. This, he said, is the future direction of higher education, as data-related expertise becomes indispensable and demand for talent with diverse skills and attributes continues to rise.

Looking ahead, new programmes which specifically address these needs will help to drive economic growth and ensure Hong Kong remains highly competitive in a fast-changing world. With that in mind, Lingnan is introducing a new common core course in generative AI for all first-year undergraduates as from the 2024/25 academic year. This will give students the essential knowledge and practical skills needed to make best use of the latest technology, while also covering methods of evaluation and key ethical considerations.

Programmes Offered:

Undergraduate:
LEO Dr David P. Chan Bachelor of Science (Honours) in Data Science
Minor Programme in Data Science
Common Core Course in the Core Curriculum: Generative Artificial Intelligence

Taught Postgraduate:
Master of Science in Artificial Intelligence and Business Analytics (MScAIBA)
Master of Science in Data Science (MScDS)
Master of Science in Industrial Data Analytics (MScIDA, to be offered in 2025/26)
Master of Science in Smart City Technologies and Applications (MScSCTA, to be offered in 2025/26)

Research Postgraduate:
M.Phil./Ph.D. Programme in Data Science (to be offered in 2025/26)

Explore more: https://www.ln.edu.hk/sds/programmes-and-courses

The potential of the arts and culture sector to enrich lives, boost economies and generate new career opportunities, can be witnessed across the globe. In Hong Kong, the M+ art museum only debuted to the public in late 2021 but has already established itself as one of the most popular exhibition spaces in Asia. While on the Mainland, the boom in the construction of cultural infrastructure has continued apace since the early years of the century.

This growth is leading to a burgeoning demand for trained professionals who have both a broad perspective and an innovative approach, as well as the ability to run a wide range of facilities and events in this rapidly evolving field. That is why Lingnan University, Hong Kong, together with Goldsmiths, University of London, are launching a new MA in Arts Administration and Cultural Policy (MAAACP) this year. Students enrolled on this dual-degree programme will split their time between Hong Kong and London, and will have the opportunity to gain not only a unique international perspective but also two internationally-recognised degrees.

To underline the value of the MAAACP’s international aspect, programme co-director Professor Eric Chan, of Lingnan’s School of Graduate Studies, points out that successful professionals working in this sector are likely to move around the world in the course of their careers. “This mobility exposes these professionals to more diverse experiences, influences and ideas, that can enhance their creative outputs and their understanding of different cultural contexts.”

However, Prof Chan adds, an international perspective is also increasingly important for those who work solely in their home countries. “Local arts and culture professionals need to adopt a more global lens when presenting the local arts and cultural content to a global audience.”

A unique partnership and a unique opportunity

Professor Elle Li, School of Graduate Studies faculty and Prof Chan’s fellow programme co-director, believes the MAAACP will give students a wonderful chance to experience the differences, as well as the similarities, between the cultural environments in London and Hong Kong.

“In London they are likely to encounter a multicultural-metropolis scene that reflects its diverse population with a variety of cultural expressions from around the world,” she notes. “By contrast, Hong Kong’s arts and culture scene is shaped by its unique position as a nexus between East and West, its relatively recent colonial past, and its return to China.”

But beyond the opportunity students will have to immerse themselves in these exciting environments, the rich mix of theoretical and experiential learning in the programme’s curriculum is designed to leave them extremely well-positioned for life after graduation.

“We want to help our students enhance their employability in this super-competitive world,” says Prof Li. To that end, the MAAACP curriculum integrates theory and practice in areas such as arts management, cultural policy, curatorial practice, art projects, entrepreneurial initiatives, and professional education. “It is crucial that in arts education, nowadays, we provide out students with a broader and more diverse understanding of the global arts trends, theory, knowledge and practice.”