28
April
2020
|
22:42
Asia/Singapore

NUS Business launches new Centre to promote human-centred mindset in AI use

The new Centre on AI Technology for Humankind will focus on research in areas of leadership and authority, augmentation of human capital, as well as trust and ethics

Artificial intelligence (AI) is often touted as the new changemaker that will impact our lives in unprecedented ways. In the new AI era, what roles would humans play?

NUS Business’ new Centre on AI Technology for Humankind (AiTH, pronounced as “8th”) aims to answer this question through promoting a human-centred mindset in the use of AI. The centre will house research in the areas of leadership and authority, augmentation of human capital, as well as trust and ethics.

“We hope to develop insights that will inform policymakers, the industry and the public on how AI technologies can be advanced while still maintaining a focus on humans,” said AiTH’s Founder and Director Professor David De Cremer, Provost’s Chair in the Department of Management and Organisation at NUS Business. Prof De Cremer was also recently named one of the world’s top 30 management gurus and speakers by research organisation Global Gurus.

The research projects will seek to cover topics such as how AI-empowered business models should be employed in trustworthy and ethical ways; how AI can be used to enhance human well-being; as well as what the enhanced relationship between man and machine means for the future of work specifically, and the development of future society more generally.

The centre was launched virtually on 23 April. In conjunction with the launch, the Asia’s AI Agenda report was released, a research project in collaboration with MIT Technology Review Insights.

In this report, which surveyed more than 1,000 senior executives from a wide variety of businesses in Asia and around the world, researchers examined companies’ technological savviness, their use and challenges with AI in business today, as well as foreseeable challenges with AI in the next three years.

The results showed that the Asia-Pacific region was an early adopter of AI and continues to lead the pack, with 96 per cent of Asian respondents deploying AI in 2019, higher than the 85 per cent average of respondents from the other regions. 

Additionally, Asia Pacific’s biggest growth of use of AI in business processes has been in sales and marketing (36 per cent in 2019 and 61 per cent projected in 2022). The Asia-Pacific region will likely continue to lead this growth because of its e-commerce experience (64.3 per cent of global e-commerce spending in 2019) and its focus on innovation and customer processes.

The establishment of AiTH was made possible because of a generous contribution from Cornerstone International Education Group, which has strong expertise in AI and education. AiTH is also collaborating with several academic institutions and industry partners to develop insights that may help shape future practices and policies.

See press release.

By NUS Business

 

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