OpenAI Asia-Pacific Public Policy Director Visits National Chengchi University to Explore the Future and Possibilities of Humanistic AI
Date :
2024-08-27
Department :
Office of International Cooperation (OIC)
【Article by Office of International Cooperation】
Generative AI has become a prominent field, sweeping across various domains like a storm. To address the opportunities and challenges brought by AI, George Chen, an adjunct scholar at our university who serves as an external advisor to OpenAI for the Asia-Pacific region and is currently the Managing Director for Taiwan and Hong Kong at American business group Asia Group, facilitated the visit of Sandy Kunvatangarn, OpenAI’s Asia-Pacific Public Policy Director, to Taiwan. During this visit, our university was the only higher education institution Kunvatangarn visited and engaged with. Through this visit and exchange with OpenAI representatives, National Chengchi University (NCCU) aims to explore the integration and development of humanities and social sciences with AI, advancing towards the possibilities of "Humanistic AI.”
Kunvatangarn, who oversees business in the Asia-Pacific region including India, has experience in both government and business sectors. Having previously worked as a U.S. State Department official and at Meta, Kunvatangarn has collaborated with Chen Shu for many years and was OpenAI's first employee in the Asia-Pacific region. This visit is also the first time Kunvatangarn has come to Taiwan as an OpenAI representative since taking on the role of director, where he was invited to participate in the Taipei Asia-Pacific Internet Governance Forum (APrIGF) and meet with Taiwan's Executive Yuan's National Science and Technology Council and the Digital Department.
With OpenAI's increased focus on Asia, Kunvatangarn has established offices in Japan and Singapore, signaling a deeper, localized engagement of AI services led by ChatGPT in Asia and exploring the development possibilities of AI in the region. Given OpenAI’s collaboration with some universities in the U.S. on projects related to AI safety, digital trust, and public issues, Kunvatangarn hopes to better understand Taiwanese scholars' research directions on AI policy, governance, and regulation through this visit to NCCU. This may also open opportunities for Taiwanese scholars to receive research support and resources from OpenAI in the future.
During the meeting, Kunvatangarn demonstrated the ChatGPT application, showcasing its capabilities in language communication, cross-language, and vocabulary interactions. Executive Vice President Shu-Heng Chen and Vice President of International Cooperation Katherine Chen asked questions to ChatGPT, and the AI responded to the queries as requested. Various scholars from different faculties at NCCU raised questions and shared their experiences in response to Kunvatangarn’s report. Distinguished Professor Jih-Hsuan Lin from the College of Communication and Assistant Professor Chien-Yi Hsiang from the Department of Information Management shared their past research experiences with AI and potential future research directions. Professors Tsung-Jen Shih from the College of Communication, Professor Jia-Yi Li and Associate Professor Cho-Hsin Su, from the Department of Diplomacy, and Associate Professor Yan-Tsung Peng from the Department of Computer Science and Information Engineering also provided evaluations and feedback on AI's impact on social media, regulatory oversight, digital trust, copyright, and the prevention of harmful and false content. Associate Vice President Elaine Lin expressed gratitude to Kunvatangarn for visiting NCCU and sharing exciting AI insights.
“NCCU is a very unique university," said NCCU President Tsai-Yen Li, “We offer over 200 interdisciplinary AI courses across liberal arts, business, and science. We excel in social sciences and invest significantly in technological development. In this AI era, the nexus between technology and humanity is crucial." Recently, NCCU published a report titled "Challenges in Higher Education in the AI Era: Expert Interview Report" through in-depth interviews with our scholars, external experts, and interdisciplinary research participants. The report uses an AI policy white paper framework to explore how humanities and social science professions can transition from "understanding AI" and "using AI" to "supporting AI" and "driving AI," identifying the irreplaceable values and advantages of these fields in the AI era. NCCU is actively promoting various interdisciplinary learning programs, has a solid foundation in humanities and social science research, and maintains close connections with government and research institutions, giving it a strong advantage in researching "Humanistic AI."
By integrating humanistic thinking with artificial intelligence technology, OpenAI's visit to NCCU, the only higher education institution in Taiwan to host them, demonstrates NCCU's determination to remain prominent in the AI era.
Generative AI has become a prominent field, sweeping across various domains like a storm. To address the opportunities and challenges brought by AI, George Chen, an adjunct scholar at our university who serves as an external advisor to OpenAI for the Asia-Pacific region and is currently the Managing Director for Taiwan and Hong Kong at American business group Asia Group, facilitated the visit of Sandy Kunvatangarn, OpenAI’s Asia-Pacific Public Policy Director, to Taiwan. During this visit, our university was the only higher education institution Kunvatangarn visited and engaged with. Through this visit and exchange with OpenAI representatives, National Chengchi University (NCCU) aims to explore the integration and development of humanities and social sciences with AI, advancing towards the possibilities of "Humanistic AI.”
Kunvatangarn, who oversees business in the Asia-Pacific region including India, has experience in both government and business sectors. Having previously worked as a U.S. State Department official and at Meta, Kunvatangarn has collaborated with Chen Shu for many years and was OpenAI's first employee in the Asia-Pacific region. This visit is also the first time Kunvatangarn has come to Taiwan as an OpenAI representative since taking on the role of director, where he was invited to participate in the Taipei Asia-Pacific Internet Governance Forum (APrIGF) and meet with Taiwan's Executive Yuan's National Science and Technology Council and the Digital Department.
With OpenAI's increased focus on Asia, Kunvatangarn has established offices in Japan and Singapore, signaling a deeper, localized engagement of AI services led by ChatGPT in Asia and exploring the development possibilities of AI in the region. Given OpenAI’s collaboration with some universities in the U.S. on projects related to AI safety, digital trust, and public issues, Kunvatangarn hopes to better understand Taiwanese scholars' research directions on AI policy, governance, and regulation through this visit to NCCU. This may also open opportunities for Taiwanese scholars to receive research support and resources from OpenAI in the future.
During the meeting, Kunvatangarn demonstrated the ChatGPT application, showcasing its capabilities in language communication, cross-language, and vocabulary interactions. Executive Vice President Shu-Heng Chen and Vice President of International Cooperation Katherine Chen asked questions to ChatGPT, and the AI responded to the queries as requested. Various scholars from different faculties at NCCU raised questions and shared their experiences in response to Kunvatangarn’s report. Distinguished Professor Jih-Hsuan Lin from the College of Communication and Assistant Professor Chien-Yi Hsiang from the Department of Information Management shared their past research experiences with AI and potential future research directions. Professors Tsung-Jen Shih from the College of Communication, Professor Jia-Yi Li and Associate Professor Cho-Hsin Su, from the Department of Diplomacy, and Associate Professor Yan-Tsung Peng from the Department of Computer Science and Information Engineering also provided evaluations and feedback on AI's impact on social media, regulatory oversight, digital trust, copyright, and the prevention of harmful and false content. Associate Vice President Elaine Lin expressed gratitude to Kunvatangarn for visiting NCCU and sharing exciting AI insights.
“NCCU is a very unique university," said NCCU President Tsai-Yen Li, “We offer over 200 interdisciplinary AI courses across liberal arts, business, and science. We excel in social sciences and invest significantly in technological development. In this AI era, the nexus between technology and humanity is crucial." Recently, NCCU published a report titled "Challenges in Higher Education in the AI Era: Expert Interview Report" through in-depth interviews with our scholars, external experts, and interdisciplinary research participants. The report uses an AI policy white paper framework to explore how humanities and social science professions can transition from "understanding AI" and "using AI" to "supporting AI" and "driving AI," identifying the irreplaceable values and advantages of these fields in the AI era. NCCU is actively promoting various interdisciplinary learning programs, has a solid foundation in humanities and social science research, and maintains close connections with government and research institutions, giving it a strong advantage in researching "Humanistic AI."
By integrating humanistic thinking with artificial intelligence technology, OpenAI's visit to NCCU, the only higher education institution in Taiwan to host them, demonstrates NCCU's determination to remain prominent in the AI era.