PAIR hosted its inaugural Public Forum for Research and Innovation on 11 March 2025. Titled “DeepSeek and Beyond”, the keynote speech was delivered by Prof. YANG Hongxia, Associate Dean (Global Engagement) of the PolyU Faculty of Computer and Mathematical Sciences and Professor in the Department of Computing, who highlighted the latest developments in artificial intelligence (AI). The event attracted over a thousand participants, including faculty members, students, alumni, and leaders from the innovation and technology sector, as well as other members of academia and the general public. Additionally, over 390,000 viewers tuned in through live streaming platforms.
The large AI model developed by the mainland Chinese startup DeepSeek has garnered wide acclaim around the world for its low-cost, high-performance, and open-source framework, disrupting the traditional “computing power-first” logic of AI model training. At the Forum, Prof. Yang highlighted the potential of generative AI (GenAI): abundant opportunities for various sectors, including healthcare, finance, manufacturing, retail, media and fashion, and applications in medical imaging analysis, fraud detection, predictive maintenance, retail inventory management, content creation, and design and marketing.
Prof. Yang also recounted the evolution of AI and shared her professional milestones with the audience, notably the development of the M6 large model, which trained a 10-trillion-parameter model using just 512 GPUs. Prof. Yang then explained how her GenAI project, Co-GenAI, improves the accessibility of AI technology while minimising dependence on large-scale centralised computing resources, thereby transforming the trajectory of AI progress. This ground-breaking effort has positioned Hong Kong and the Mainland at the forefront of global advancements in GenAI.
In addition, a panel discussion was moderated by Prof. Zhang Chenqi, Chair Professor of Artificial Intelligence of the PolyU Department of Data Science and Artificial Intelligence, and Director of the PolyU Shenzhen Research Institute. The discussion featured esteemed panellists Prof. Yang Hongxia and Prof. LI Qing, Head and Chair Professor of Data Science of the PolyU Department of Computing, and Co-Director of the Research Centre for Digital Transformation of Tourism (RCDTT). The scholars discussed the opportunities and challenges that advancements in AI present for higher education and research. They also engaged in fruitful discussion with participants during a question-and-answer session. The topics included the application of AI in industry, the regulation of information, the impact of AI on the employment environment and economic development, and the integration of AI technologies.
