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China Forum for Civilizational Dialogue

April 10, 2024

The Interface between Human and Artificial Intelligence: Chinese Approaches in Global Context

This webinar brought together diverse scholars and practitioners to explore conceptual and practical frameworks for AI-human interaction, with a particular focus on Chinese perspectives. It concludes a series of four closed workshops over the course of the 2022-2023 academic year that brought global scholars from different disciplines (humanities, social sciences, and engineering) together with artists and AI experts to address the evolving interface between humans and AI. Key themes emerging from those conversations included the importance of rethinking accountability amid an ongoing technological revolution and the need for constructive terms of collaboration and co-creation, enabling humans to both learn from and teach AI in innovative ways. A critical issue is how human and machine intelligence will interface into the future, possibly shifting and merging identities in the process.

The emerging scholarly and public debate on these issues has been dominated by voices from the United States and Europe. Given the inherently transnational and global dimensions of the AI revolution, we need to better understand emerging perspectives elsewhere—particularly in China, a technological powerhouse which brings its own philosophical, cultural, and ethical traditions into the conversation. The webinar aimed to further a more inclusive global dialogue on critical topics.

The webinar is co-sponsored by the Georgetown University Representative Office in Rome, the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS, University of London), and the China Forum for Civilizational Dialogue.

Participants

Thomas Banchoff

Thomas Banchoff

Thomas Banchoff (introductory greeting) is the director of Georgetown University's Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs. He also serves as Georgetown University's vice president for global engagement and is a professor in the Department of Government and the Walsh School of Foreign Service. Banchoff's scholarship centers on ethical and religious issues in world politics. His most recent books are The Jesuits and Globalization: Historical Legacies and Contemporary Challenges (2016, with José Casanova) and Embryo Politics: Ethics and Policy in Atlantic Democracies (2011). 

Quifan Chen

Qiufan Chen

Qiufan Chen 陈楸帆 (a.k.a. Stanley Chan) is an award-winning Chinese science-fiction writer, translator, creative producer, and curator. He is vice president of the Chinese Writers Association Science-Fiction Committee and honorary president of the Chinese Science-Fiction Writers Association. He was selected as a cultural leader by the World Economic Forum in 2018-2019 and as an Asia 21 Fellow by the Asia Society in 2021. He also has a seat on the Xprize Foundation Science-Fiction Advisory Council. His works include the novel Waste Tide (2013) and AI 2041: Ten Visions for Our Future (2021, with Kai-Fu Lee). He currently lives in Los Angeles as SCI-Arc’s futurist-in-residence.

Rev. Nuno Gonçalves, S.J.

Rev. Nuno Gonçalves, S.J.

Rev. Nuno Gonçalves, S.J., (introductory greeting) is the director of La Civiltà Cattolica, where he has been a member of the College of Writers since January 2023. From September 2016 to August 2022 he was rector of the Pontifical Gregorian University. He has been a member of the Catholic University of Portugal’s Center for the Study of Religious History since 1994 and a member of the Portuguese Academy of History since 1996. From July 2005 to July 2011, he served as provincial superior of the Portuguese Province of the Society of Jesus. 

Venerable Dr. Juewei

Venerable Dr. Juewei

Venerable Dr. Juewei, a dedicated monastic, has over two decades of experience in Buddhist studies. Prior to ordination, she delved into the realms of artificial intelligence and business process re-engineering, applying her expertise to address real-world challenges within the Singapore government for over a decade. As an academic monastic, Juewei's contributions extend beyond traditional study; she has co-edited and authored scholarly works exploring the contemporary applications of Buddhism. She has founded community initiatives, webinars, podcasts, and digital tools. 

Fen Jennifer Lin

Fen Jennifer Lin

Fen Jennifer Lin 林芬 is an associate professor in the Department of Media and Communication at City University of Hong Kong, where she also serves as associate vice president for global strategies. Her research interests include media and social change, state-media relations, journalism, political sociology, and technology and innovation. Her articles have been published in interdisciplinary journals and edited books in the field of sociology, media, journalism, law, information systems, and China studies. She is also a documentary filmmaker with a recent award-winning feature documentary, Ani Bond: Choying Drolma (次第花开).

Debora Tonelli

Debora Tonelli

Debora Tonelli (event coordinator) is the Georgetown University representative in Rome and permanent researcher at the Center for Religious Studies (Centro per le Scienze Religiose) at the Fondazione Bruno Kessler in Trento. She also serves as a lecturer at Gregorian University and Pontifical Atheneum S. Anselmo and a research fellow at the Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs at Georgetown University. Tonelli's research and teaching address the interaction between politics and religion, particularly in the context of interreligious dialogue and religious violence.

Stefania Travagnin

Stefania Travagnin

Stefania Travagnin (event coordinator) is reader in Chinese Buddhism at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS, University of London). Travagnin has conducted extensive fieldwork research among Buddhist communities in China and Taiwan, focusing especially on female communities and Sangha education. She has edited or co-edited several volumes, including Religion and Media in China (2016), and the three-volume publication Concepts and Methods for the Study of Chinese Religions (2019-2020). She is also co-directing the multiyear project “Mapping Religious Diversity in Modern Sichuan”, and serves as editor-in-chief of Review of Religion and Chinese Society.