JCFS Future Talk Conference
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Date : 2022.01.26
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To start 2022, JCFS held Future Talk, our first student-led conference designed to bring together students and faculty to discuss the future of technology. They addressed current global issues and how they are connected to their discipline. Five students from the Human and Digital Interface program (HADI) with specializations in AI prepared topics by looking at current trends in science and technology. What kind of predictions could we make about what will happen next?
On January 12, four of our five participants presented their work, Sulagna, Vern, Wiang, and Shengyue. As JCFS students, the presenters had the expertise and knowledge to distinguish fictional AI pop culture from factual AI research. Sulagna started off our first Future Talk by showing the immense integration of AI programs embedded in real life: algorithms in social media and online sites generate recommendations we take for granted. Although these programs are often represented maliciously in pop culture, they are not seen as actual threats. For now, AI lacks the emotional intelligence that humans have and are limited to computational tasks, however, it is something to keep in mind as we advance further.
Vern then shared her movie, which told the story of humans collaborating with an AI program. This movie sparked discussion on how people will adapt to working alongside more complex and human-like AI. This movie highlighted current workplace anxieties about shifts to more efficient and competent computer programs. One member asked an interesting philosophical question: "Is the simulation of emotions that AI programs experience the same as the human experience of those emotions?" and "How do we interact with entities programmed to have the same feelings as us?"
Shengyue shared his vision of incorporating AI in the hospitality sector in China. His movie described the compelling reasons for implementing machine learning programs to better serve clients. Shengyue also explained how China is rapidly expanding its AI program to raise the standard of living for its people. According to Shengyue, China’s progress in the future depends on how well the nation can develop its technology, specifically its artificial intelligence programs. The Chinese people fully support the current vision represented by the state media.
Wiang continued this idea of AI expansion, by adding his own personal touch. He explained how the growing interest in the metaverse is compelling but has concealed some important limitations. As corporations and organizations synthesize virtual and real-life spaces, we will still experience similar issues as before. People will still misunderstand one another; people will still find reasons to create conflict. Wiang’s presentation spurred faculty and students to contemplate if the rise of the metaverse is comparable to the advent of the internet. Thirty years ago, people were dismissive of the internet’s potential impact on society; and now the internet has become an existential feature of the modern world.
On January 19th, our final presenter, Adnan, discussed AI’s financial impact on developing countries. As a citizen of Bangladesh, he explained that many of his fellow citizens are not aware of the rapid changes occurring in other countries. Studying at JCFS has inspired him to learn skills to improve his country’s financial structure. Adnan believes that implementing machine learning in the financial sector can create a fairer, more transparent, and more convenient way of doing business.
In preparation for this conference, students felt tremendous pressure to perform in the best way possible. They felt the anxiety of representing their college, home country, and current standing as students. They can now feel confident that they have learned more about these topics than most attending professors and students. They are becoming experts in their fields. We hope that JCFS will have more students participate in this event next year; and that other colleges will join us in promoting the bright, young minds we have in Woosong University.
