Research Grants Council to present public lecture on Happy, Healthy, Longevity - AI Can Help on January 20

In line with the Government's initiative to promote STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, the Arts and Mathematics) education for all, for fun and for diversity, the Research Grants Council (RGC) is organising a series of public lectures titled Happy, Healthy, Longevity - AI Can Help, covering areas including technology, innovation and health. The second lecture of the series will be held at the Hong Kong Science Museum on January 20 (Saturday). All are welcome.

The RGC has invited Assistant Professor of the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology Professor Wong Tsz-wai and Associate Director of University Research Facility of Data Science and Artificial Intelligence of the Education University of Hong Kong Professor Yu Leung-ho to talk about how artificial intelligence (AI) facilitates learning, helps medical diagnoses and saves lives. Details are as follows:

Time: 2.30pm - 4.30pm
Venue: Lecture Hall, 1/F, Hong Kong Science Museum
Language: Cantonese
Admission: Free (seats are available on a first-come, first-served basis)

Members of the public can also watch a live broadcast of the lecture through the Facebook page (www.facebook.com/hkscm) or the YouTube Channel (www.youtube.com/user/hksciencemuseum) of the Hong Kong Science Museum.

First session: AI microscopy - High-speed imaging of cancer cells

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Professor Wong's team has recently developed an AI-based microscope that revolutionises the ways cancer cells are detected before, during and after surgeries. Compared with the usual one-week processing time, it takes only three minutes for the AI-based microscope to provide high-resolution images of biological tissue samples from a patient that closely resemble images acquired using the highest clinical standard. The new technology enables fast and accurate medical diagnoses for all tissue types.

Second session: From saving lives to empowering learning: Wow, AI is so close!

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AI is finding its way into a wide range of applications, from personalised recommendation systems and chatbots to language learning and STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) education. Professor Yu will showcase several AI projects that have real-life applications, including suicide risk detection on social media, medical image diagnoses, AI-assisted language learning and assessment, and preference learning in social networks for personalised recommendations.

The RGC has been regularly organising public lectures since 2009, featuring various distinguished scholars as speakers. These lectures aim to promote research knowledge of Hong Kong's tertiary institutions and to raise public awareness of the significance and value of local research work.

For enquiries, please call 2524 3987 or visit the University Grants Committee webpage (www.ugc.edu.hk/eng/rgc/about/events/lectures/lectures.html). In addition, members of the public can register for the RGC's email subscription service at www.ugc.edu.hk/eng/rgc/about/subscribe to receive regular updates.