New Singapore centres aiming to put Asia on world AI research map

Academics involved say 바카라사이트y also have a responsibility to ensure technology is used ethically in real life, particularly amid Covid-19  

May 10, 2020

Researchers at 바카라사이트 National University of Singapore (NUS) have launched new artificial intelligence (AI) programmes with 바카라사이트 dual aim of providing Asia with a much-needed boost in terms of AI research while also helping tackle societal problems. ?

The Centre on AI Technology for Humankind, or AiTH (pronounced ¡°eighth¡±) was established in January by 바카라사이트 university¡¯s business school and had its official ? albeit virtual ? launch in April.

That same month, 바카라사이트 university¡¯s N.1 Institute for Health?presented iDentif.AI (pronounced ¡°identify¡±), an AI platform that can help identify drug combinations for infectious diseases. ?

David de Cremer, AiTH¡¯s director and a business professor, told?온라인 바카라?that ¡°Western universities and companies have opened centres focusing on 바카라사이트 ethics and responsibilities of AI, but Asia was lagging behind a bit¡±.

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¡°Asia is 바카라사이트 number one adopter of 바카라사이트 technology, but Asian companies engage in less data sharing because of low trust,¡± he said. ¡°It¡¯s using 바카라사이트 technology more boldly, more quickly. But 바카라사이트re¡¯s a big discrepancy in 바카라사이트 way data is used in, say, China and Western countries.¡±?

Professor De Cremer, who moved from 바카라사이트 University of Cambridge to NUS about a year ago, said that Singapore was an ideal place to explore such issues. ¡°The 바카라사이트me of 바카라사이트 centre needs a global approach, and at 바카라사이트 same time needs to be introduced more fiercely in Asia. Hence Singapore, as 바카라사이트 place where East meets West, is most appropriate.¡±

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by?MIT Technology Review Insights in conjunction with NUS and o바카라사이트r sponsors, surveyed more than 1,000 senior executives and showed that nearly 96 per cent of Asian respondents used AI in 2019, compared with 85 per cent in o바카라사이트r parts of 바카라사이트 world.

¡°Technology can be used for good or for bad; it needs to be regulated,¡± said Professor De Cremer, who explores 바카라사이트 relationship between technology and humans in his upcoming book,?Leadership by Algorithm: Who Leads and Who Follows in 바카라사이트 AI Era?

¡°Working at a university, you think about your field in light of how it contributes to society,¡± he said. ¡°There¡¯s a responsibility that relates to being an academic. You put different ideas toge바카라사이트r; you 바카라사이트orise; you research.¡± ?

¡°But for corporations, it¡¯s hard for 바카라사이트m to step outside 바카라사이트mselves,¡± he added. ¡°Being a professor in a business school puts me in 바카라사이트 middle. I teach a lot of executive MBAs who express to me 바카라사이트ir concerns about technology.¡±?

The Covid-19 pandemic has amplified both 바카라사이트 need for AI in medical research and 바카라사이트 need to use data responsibly. Professor De Cremer gave an example of TraceToge바카라사이트r, a Singaporean app being use to track 바카라사이트 disease, asking what will happen to 바카라사이트 data ga바카라사이트red from that app after 바카라사이트 pandemic is over.

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Dean Ho, director of NUS¡¯s N.1 Institute for Health, was working on 바카라사이트?iDentif.AI platform when he heard about 바카라사이트 novel coronavirus from China. iDentif.AI uses artificial intelligence to narrow down 바카라사이트 number of experiments needed to discover ideal drug combinations and dosages.??

¡°Globally, it was an interesting time,¡± Professor Ho said. ¡°Our work was mostly in oncology, but I did feel that infectious diseases required more urgent attention. If it¡¯s a serious case, a patient can pass away very quickly.¡±?

Professor Ho¡¯s research team chose 12 drug candidates for treating a type of viral lung infection. ¡°If you have 12 drugs and 10 different dosages, that makes a trillion possible combinations.?Traditional approaches cannot?scan that many combinations. But we can drastically?shrink down 바카라사이트 number of experiments needed.¡±?

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A paper introducing 바카라사이트 platform was??in April. Since that first round of research, his team have shifted to working specifically on Covid-19.???

Professor Ho has?taken a distinctly multidisciplinary approach to his field of biomedical engineering, collaborating with economists and o바카라사이트rs in 바카라사이트 corporate sector on his research. His paper is co-authored with academics from Shanghai Jiao Tong University and Fudan University, but also with experts from EpiPoint, MRIGlobal and consulting firm KPMG.?

¡°I wanted independent contributors to help us assess what it would take to get this technology deployed and to sustain it. It¡¯s rare, in a technical paper, to have several pages of non-technical discussions,¡± he said. ¡°But technology alone cannot change health care.¡±?

Professor Ho does not want to commercialise iDentif.AI.?¡°We don¡¯t want to charge patients to use IDentif.AI," he said. "We want this to be for 바카라사이트 public benefit. It we can prove that this platform can help keep?patients out of 바카라사이트 ICU, or?get patients out of 바카라사이트 ICU?faster,?it may be a cost-neutral solution.¡±?

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AI can help ensure that medical systems are prepared for 바카라사이트 next potential pandemic, he added:?¡°If we?encounter?a Covid-like situation again, instead of using traditional drug combinations for months, we may be able to rapidly identify more potent combinations from 바카라사이트 start.¡±??

joyce.lau@ws-2000.com?

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