Search Constraints
Number of results to display per page
Results for:
Social Impact Management
Remove constraint Social Impact Management
Resource Type
Video
Remove constraint Resource Type: Video
1 - 9 of 9
Search Results
-
Video
People are now regularly interacting with voice assistants (VAs), which are conversational agents that allow users to use spoken language to interface with a machine to complete tasks. The huge adoption and daily use of VAs by millions of people - and its increasing use for financial, healthcare, and educational applications - raises important questions about the linguistic and social factors that affect spoken language interactions with machines.
We are exploring issues of linguistic and social biases that impact speech communication in human-computer interaction - particularly during cross-language transfer, learning, or adaptation of some kind. In this talk, I will present two case studies illustrating some of our most recent work in this area. The first study looks at a case of cross-language ASR transfer. We find systematic linguistic and phonetic disparities in language transfer by machines trained on a source language to speech recognition of a novel target, low-resource language. The second study looks at a case of social bias in word learning by humans using voice-enabled apps. We find the word learning is inhibited when there are mismatching social cues presented by the voice and the linguistic information.
Together, along with highlights from other ongoing work in my lab, the aim of this talk is to underscore that human-computer linguistic communication is a rich testing ground for investigating issues in speech and language variation. Examining linguistic variation during HCI can enrich and elaborate linguistic theory, as well as present opportunities for linguists to provide insights for improving both the function and fairness of these technologies.
Event date: 25/03/2025
Speaker: Professor. Georgia ZELLOU (University of California, Davis)
Hosted by: Faculty of Humanities
- Subjects:
- Communication and Language and Languages
- Keywords:
- Linguistics English language -- Variation Speech processing systems English language -- Spoken English Human-computer interaction
- Resource Type:
- Video
-
Video
Prof. Jesse ZHU, Senior Advisor to the President, Eastern Institute of Technology, Ningbo, China, delivered the 36th PAIR Distinguished Lecture titled “Research Strategy and Planning: How to Prepare a Research Career?” on 12 March 2025 on the PolyU campus. The lecture attracted over 110 participants to join in person and captivated an online audience of over 13,300 from different countries and regions who watched the live broadcast on multiple social media platforms, including Bilibili, WeChat, Weibo and YouTube.
Prof. Zhu kickstarted his presentation by sharing his personal anecdotes from his journey through academia and industry, emphasising that innovation, curiosity and a commitment to societal impact have guided his research trajectory. He stressed the importance of identifying meaningful research themes to ensure both academic rigor and real-world relevance, noting, “True scientific breakthroughs emerge when we chase fundamental truths, not just external accolades.”
Prof. Zhu illustrated these principles with examples from his cross-disciplinary work, including (i) healthcare innovation, the development of a rotating fluidiser which is a device that enable uniform particle suspension to optimise drug delivery systems; (ii) sustainable manufacturing, the application of nanoparticles in paint production to enhance flow efficiency and reduce environmental waste; and (iii) urban sustainability, pioneering compact wastewater treatment technologies for space-constrained urban environments.
In conclusion, Prof. Zhu underscored the transformative role of research in advancing global well-being, advocating for a balance between theoretical exploration and applied solutions. He urged students to cultivate resilience, collaborate across disciplines, and align their work with societal needs, that is, “persistence and purpose are the bedrock of a fulfilling research career.”
The event concluded with a lively question-and-answer session moderated by Prof. Chen, where attendees explored topics ranging from funding strategies to various considerations in technology development with Prof. Zhu.
Event date: 12/03/2025
Speaker: Prof. Jesse ZHU
Hosted by: PolyU Academy for Interdisciplinary Research
- Keywords:
- Research -- Methodology Research -- Vocational guidance Science--Vocational guidance
- Resource Type:
- Video
-
Video
The PolyU Academy for Interdisciplinary Research (PAIR) of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) today hosted its inaugural Public Forum for Research and Innovation. Titled “DeepSeek and Beyond”, the keynote speech was delivered by Prof. YANG Hongxia, Associate Dean (Global Engagement) of the PolyU Faculty of Computer and Mathematical Sciences and Professor of the Department of Computing, who highlighted the latest developments in artificial intelligence (AI). The event attracted over a thousand participants, including faculty members, students, alumni, and leaders from the innovation and technology sector, as well as academics and the public. Additionally, over 390,000 viewers tuned in through the live streaming platforms.
The Forum began with a welcoming speech delivered by Prof. CHEN Qingyan, Director of PAIR and Chair Professor of Building Thermal Science of the PolyU Department of Building Environment and Energy Engineering. This was followed by Prof. ZHANG Chenqi, Chair Professor of Artificial Intelligence of the PolyU Department of Data Science and Artificial Intelligence, and Director of the PolyU Shenzhen Research Institute introducing the speaker.
Prof. Zhang said, “The development of large models is at the core of competition in the AI wave. DeepSeek has demonstrated that high-performance AI models can be achieved using fewer and less advanced graphics processing units (GPUs), demonstrating that cutting-edge AI technology can be realised through the optimisation of algorithms.”
The large AI model developed by the mainland Chinese startup DeepSeek has garnered wide acclaim around the world for its low-cost, high-performance, and open-source framework, disrupting the traditional “computing power-first” logic of AI model training. At the Forum, Prof. Yang highlighted the potential of generative AI (GenAI), adding that it presents abundant opportunities for various sectors, including healthcare, finance, manufacturing, retail, media and fashion, and for applications in medical imaging analysis, fraud detection, predictive maintenance, retail inventory management, content creation, and design and marketing.
Prof. Yang also recounted the evolution of AI and shared her professional milestones with the audience, notably the development of the M6 large model, which trained a 10-trillion-parameters model using just 512 GPUs. Prof. Yang further elaborated on how her GenAI project, Co-GenAI, improves the accessibility of AI technology while minimising dependence on large-scale centralised computing resources, thereby transforming the trajectory of AI progress. This ground-breaking effort has positioned Hong Kong and the Mainland at the forefront of global advancement in GenAI.
Moderated by Prof. Zhang Chenqi, a panel discussion was also held, featuring esteemed panellists Prof. Yang Hongxia and Prof. LI Qing, Head and Chair Professor of Data Science of the PolyU Department of Computing, and Co-Director of the Research Centre for Digital Transformation of Tourism. The scholars discussed the opportunities and challenges that advancements in AI present for higher education and research. They also engaged in fruitful discussion with participants during the question-and-answer session. The topics included the application of AI in industry, the regulation of information, its impact on the employment environment and economic development, and the integration of AI technologies.
PolyU is committed to advancing AI education and research. In January 2025, the University established the Faculty of Computer and Mathematical Sciences with a vision to lead global advancements in digital transformation and AI through distinguished education, research, and knowledge transfer.
Event date: 11/03/2025
Speaker: Prof. YANG Hongxia
Hosted by: PolyU Academy for Interdisciplinary Research
-
Video
The lecture commenced with a welcome speech and speaker introduction by Prof. WANG Zuankai, Associate Vice President (Research and Innovation). In his presentation, Prof. Chen first gave a brief introduction to the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as well as the SDG monitoring practices in Mainland China. He pointed out that the Nation has adopted the high quality sustainable development concept, which emphasises harmonising the social, economic and environmental aspects in national development. Next, he elaborated on a pilot project that he led to measure Deqing County’s progress towards SDGs using geospatial and statistical information. The project was selected by the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs as one of the first 16 good SDGs’ practices in 2020. After that, Prof. Chen shared that the achievement of sustainable development requires holistic and systematic research to build a digital governance system that can provide the basis for the scientific and orderly development of national territorial space. He also explained how territorial space sustainability studies can help unveil and analyse various patterns, such as the distributions of population, enterprises and public service facilities, and the relationships between them. To conclude, Prof. Chen introduced the national program on the development of the Realistic Geospatial Landscape Model (3dRGLm), which can generate digital description and representation of the real 3D geospatial spaces. This new geographic information system can support the Nation in achieving natural resources management and high quality sustainable development.
A question-and-answer session moderated by Prof. DING Xiaoli, Director of the Research Institute for Land and Space (RILS) and Prof. WENG Qihao, Associate Director of RILS, followed. The online and on-site audience engaged in a productive discussion with Prof. Chen.
Event date: 27/03/2024
Speaker: Prof. Jun CHEN (National Geomatics Center of China)
Hosted by: PolyU Academy for Interdisciplinary Research
- Keywords:
- Sustainable development Geospatial data China Sustainable Development Goals Geographic information systems
- Resource Type:
- Video
-
Video
PAIR distinguished lecture series: an overview of high performance computing and future requirements
In this talk, we examine how high performance computing has changed over the last ten years and look toward the future in terms of trends. These changes have had and will continue to impact our numerical scientific software significantly. A new generation of software libraries and algorithms are needed for the effective and reliable use of (wide area) dynamic, distributed, and parallel environments. Some of the software and algorithm challenges have already been encountered, such as the management of communication and memory hierarchies through a combination of compile-time and run-time techniques, but the increased scale of computation, depth of memory hierarchies, range of latencies, and increased run-time environment variability will make these problems much harder.
Event date: 6/12/2023
Speaker: Prof. Jack Dongarra
Hosted by: PolyU Academy for Interdisciplinary Research
- Subjects:
- Computing, Data Science and Artificial Intelligence
- Keywords:
- High performance computing
- Resource Type:
- Video
-
Video
"For all that's ever been said about climate change, we haven't heard nearly enough about the psychological impacts of living in a warming world," says science writer Britt Wray. In this quick talk, she explores how climate change is threatening our well-being -- mental, social and spiritual -- and offers a starting point for what we can do about it.
- Subjects:
- Health Sciences and Environmental Sciences
- Keywords:
- Climatic changes -- Social aspects Mental health
- Resource Type:
- Video
-
Video
For the poor and vulnerable, the health impacts of climate change are already here, says physician Cheryl Holder. Unseasonably hot temperatures, disease-carrying mosquitoes and climate gentrification threaten those with existing health conditions, while wealthier people move to higher ground. In an impassioned talk, Holder proposes impactful ways clinicians can protect their patients from climate-related health challenges -- and calls on doctors, politicians and others to build a care system that incorporates economic and social justice.
- Subjects:
- Social ecology and Health Sciences
- Keywords:
- Public health Climatic changes -- Social aspects
- Resource Type:
- Video
-
Video
"The only way we're going to make substantial progress on the challenging problems of our time is for business to drive the solutions," says social impact strategist Wendy Woods. In a data-packed talk, Woods shares a fresh way to assess the impact all parts of business can have on all parts of society, and then adjust them to not only do less harm but actually improve things. Learn more about how executives can move beyond corporate social responsibility to "total societal impact" -- for the benefit of both a company's bottom line and society at large.
- Subjects:
- Corporate Social Responsibility
- Keywords:
- Industries -- Social aspects Social responsibility of business
- Resource Type:
- Video
-
Video
This video discusses the topic of urban sprawl and the environmental and social impact if a city is expanding too fast
- Subjects:
- Building and Real Estate
- Keywords:
- Cities towns -- Growth Housing policy Buildings -- Height restrictions City planning
- Resource Type:
- Video