(Yicai) July 8 -- The key role that universities play in cultivating talent will not change fundamentally because of the emergence of new technologies such as artificial intelligence, according to the president of one of China’s leading academic institutions.

AI will play a role in changing university education, while skilled and knowledgeable individuals will simultaneously drive progress in AI, Ding Kuiling, president of Shanghai Jiao Tong University, said at the World AI Conference that ended yesterday.

Those universities that can integrate AI with human intelligence are more likely to become the next renters of higher education and talent, Ding, who is also a member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, pointed out.

The AI sector’s demand for computing power and energy is surging, Ding also said in an interview with Yicai during the four-day WAIC. The key to changing this unsustainable development path is to focus on cultivating innovative leaders in underlying AI technologies, he said, adding that China also needs to urgently step up fundamental innovation in AI.

Shanghai Jiao Tong University recently set up an AI Institute that will nurture innovators to lead the sector's development and it will launch a bachelor's degree in AI this year, Ding noted.

The era of new productive forces needs two types of talent: exceptionally gifted engineers and people who can turn technologies into products and products into industries, Xiong Hui, associate vice president of Hong Kong University of Science and Technology Guangzhou, said at WAIC.

AI has changed the paradigm of scientific research and needs universities to cultivate more talent of the second type, Xiong pointed out.

Universities are still the originators of scientific and technological knowledge, but as businesses have unique advantages in identifying and meeting social needs, they can direct and target the research done by universities, according to Zheng Qinghua, president of Tongji University and a member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering.  

Universities and companies are different to one another but also inseparable, said Jin Li, president of Fudan University and also an academician at the Chinese Academy of Sciences. They should join hands to work together, he added.

Many people think that companies should outpace universities in scientific research, said Wu Feng, vice president of the University of Science and Technology of China, but universities and businesses have their respective edges. AI also has the potential to help in developing fundamental science, he said.

Editor: Futura Costaglione