Artificial Intelligence (AI) is shaping the way decisions are made and how information flows in business and society. Today, China is one of the world leaders in AI innovation and Singapore is a global pioneer in digital transformation initiatives. How has the AI landscape in China evolved? Will China become the world’s dominant AI player in the foreseeable future? What real progress has Singapore made to transform itself into a Smart Nation? What are the similarities and differences in research, enterprise and innovation practices between China and Singapore, and what may both countries learn from each other?

The Singapore Management University (SMU) hosted the sixth SMU China Forum on 21 November 2018 to answer these questions. Close to 300 eminent business leaders, scholars and senior officials from Singapore and China packed SMU’s Mochtar Riady Auditorium to participate in the sharing of insights and experiences. Organised annually, the SMU China Forum is a high-level dialogue platform for the academic and business communities of Singapore and China to exchange views and experiences on developmental issues of impact common to both countries.

In his welcome remarks to open the Forum, SMU President Professor Arnoud De Meyer said that SMU aims to value add to Singapore and regional developments through its multi-disciplinary research by addressing five societal challenges, namely Advancing Innovation & Technology; Interpreting Economies & Financial Markets; Navigating Boundaries & Borders; Managing for Sustainability; and Strengthening Social Fabric & Quality of Life. This year’s Forum served as a continuation of SMU’s contribution of knowledge and perspectives to contemporary Asian issues of global impact.

Prof De Meyer added that Singapore had been actively stepping up efforts to transform and develop itself into a Smart Nation. Since Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong officially launched the Smart Nation initiative on 24 November 2014, Singapore had been placing great emphasis on building capacity for the global digital transformation, and on injecting more innovation into its economy. AI adoption is “right at the heart of the SMART Nation initiative”.

“As a university, SMU contributes in our own way to tackle the societal challenges brought about by AI and the Digital Revolution,” said Prof De Meyer. “Starting from last year, students admitted to our BSc (Information Systems) programme can choose to specialise in Cybersecurity, Business Analytics or AI tracks. I am happy to share that our Master of IT in Business (MITB) programme was recently ranked No. 1 in Asia and 11th globally, for its Business Analytics track in the QS University Ranking. This programme also offers a track in AI.”

Mr Cao Shihai, Counsellor (Education) of the People’s Republic of China in Singapore, attended this year’s Forum as a special guest. Throughout the course of the day, four keynote speakers articulated their expert views on the impact of AI and the digital revolution.  They were:

• Dr Pei Jian, Vice President, Big Data and Smart Supply Chain, JD.com
• Associate Prof Goh Yihan, Dean, SMU School of Law
• Dr Cheong Wei Yang, Deputy Chief Executive Officer, National Research Foundation         
• Dr Lee Kai-Fu, Chairman and CEO, Sinovation Ventures and President, Sinovation Ventures Artificial Intelligence Institute

They shared their respective insights on the following topics:

• Boundary-less Retail Enabled by Smart Supply Chain, Big Data and AI
• The Impact of Technology on Law and the Legal Profession
• Creating a Smart Nation and Future Economy powered by Digital Innovation
• The Era of AI

Assoc Prof Goh, in sharing his insights on the topic of AI and the law, said, “The concept of AI is not new. The dream of delegating human tasks to intelligent machines, was envisaged by Aristotle to replace Athenian slave morality. Today’s AIs are increasingly autonomous, performing desired tasks in unstructured environments without continuous human oversight. This is just the beginning of a new relationship between our human-centric societies and increasingly intelligent and autonomous machines.”

Elaborating on how IT innovation might pose interesting legal questions for which there are no clear answers, he commented that “every utopia invites an equal and opposite dystopia, and that anticipating such questions could be good topics for legal research. In the case of autonomous vehicles (AVs), legal research is important in terms of how it could shape laws and regulations that impact the adoption of AVs, how AVs can be designed as well as the risk and loss allocation for an uncertain new technology.

On the effects of AI on the legal business model and employment prospects for those working in the sector, Assoc Prof Goh commented that AI is taking over some of the repetitive tasks such as discovery and document vetting that are usually done by junior lawyers. This changes the way junior lawyers are trained from the start and, in the longer term, may change the structure of the legal profession.

Dr Lee, in examining the rise of China and the future of work in an era of AI commented during his presentation at the Forum: “In the age of AI, data is the new oil and China is the new OPEC.”

Dr Lee was making reference to the fact that the United States had been leading in terms of breakthroughs in AI science and producing the highest number of top scientists, or deep learning inventors, with Silicon Valley seeming to dominate the world – until the “Chinese miracle” took place in the last ten years. Facilitated by techno-utilitarian policies, China’s smart venture capital had accelerated the growth of resilient entrepreneurs and world-class companies which created new products and built a huge market delivering high returns. These developments had allowed for China and the US, in 2018, to become parallel universes in terms of AI development.

According to Dr Lee, AI would cause unprecedented challenges in the areas of privacy, security, data bias, wealth inequality and job displacement. Nevertheless, he urged members of the audience to be thankful for AI, likening it to an era of human enlightenment where humans can be liberated from routine work, freeing our time and pushing us into thinking about what makes us human. Dr Lee also commented that there is no need for fear of being replaced by AI, given that humans have free will and can choose to determine our destiny in the AI story.

Refreshing perspectives were also shared at a panel discussion on the topic of “Made in China 2025 – Strategy and Implementation".  Made in China 2025 is China’s strategic plan unveiled by Chinese Premier Li Keqiang in May 2015 to transform the country into a hi-tech powerhouse that dominates advanced industries like robotics, advanced IT, aviation and new energy vehicles, and how its rollout might present opportunities and challenges for Singapore. Prof Lau Hoong Chuin, Director of Fujitsu-SMU Urban Computing & Engineering Corp Lab moderated the session, which comprised the following panelists:

• Assoc Prof Lim Yun Fong , Chang Jiang Chair Professor and Lee Kong Chian Fellow, SMU Lee Kong Chian School of Business
• Dr Pei Jian , Vice President, Big Data and Smart Supply Chain, JD.com
• Dr Li Wenlong, Senior Economist (China Economy), ASEAN+3 Macroeconomic Research Office (AMRO)
• Mr Steve Leonard, Founding CEO, SGInnovate

The panelists agreed that the “Made in China 2025” strategy would create opportunities for countries such as Singapore, which is investing heavily in digital transformation. Steve Leonard, CEO of SGInnovate, briefly shared the original ambition of Singapore’s Smart Nation drive for entrepreneurs, corporates, government and academics to work together on challenging problems such as ageing population, transport and urban density, with the use of technology. With the capabilities developed since, he commented that Singapore presently has an opportunity to be an important contributor to China’s application of artificial intelligence, in areas such as healthcare and housing.

“How do you get your goods seamlessly delivered to customers at a reasonable cost?” asked Prof Lim Yun Fong, citing the success of Uber and Didi Chuxing in serving fundamental needs and using mobile technology and sophisticated algorithms to match demand and supply. His comments came in the context of how Singapore could effectively plug into the opportunities in China, such as the possibility of developing business processes that help the implementation and delivery of digital services and products.

Given the backdrop of an ongoing trade war between China and the US, the panelists also discussed China’s likelihood of success by powering its economy with a “strategy of independence”. According to Dr Li, the current landscape of Sino-US trade tensions and impact of the trade war on other nations could mean that it is time for China to “fine-tune its strategy” while being sensitive to the sentiments of other parties.

Using the analogy of a sportsman pulling his competitor’s jersey in a futile attempt to hold him back, Mr Leonard highlighted how each nation would do well to focus on playing to its best strength. To get ahead of the pack in the race, he advocated for one to “train harder to be in your best shape”. 

[Featured photo: Panel discussion on “Made in China 2025 – Strategy and Implementation” at the SMU China Forum on 21 November 2018. (from left) Prof Lau Hoong Chuin, Director of Fujitsu-SMU Urban Computing & Engineering Corp Lab; Dr Li Wenlong , Senior Economist (China Economy), ASEAN+3 Macroeconomic Research Office (AMRO); Mr Steve Leonard, Founding CEO, SGInnovate; Dr Pei Jian , Vice President, Big Data and Smart Supply Chain, JD.com; and Assoc Prof Lim Yun Fong , Chang Jiang Chair Professsor and Lee Kong Chian Fellow, SMU LKCSB.]