On December 9, 2019, at the invitation of College of Business of Shanghai University of Finance and Economics, Cai Tianwen, Vice Dean of Wharton Business School of University of Pennsylvania, Professor of Daniel H. Silberberg Chair of Wharton School of Statistics, made a keynote speech entitled "Big Data and AI: Opportunities and Challenges". The lecture was hosted by Professor He Xiaogang, Vice Dean of College of Business.
Professor Cai pointed out that 47% of jobs will disappear in the next 25 years, the biggest reason is the rise of big data and artificial intelligence. This means that there will be revolutionary changes in various industries, from business, medical treatment to government, and it will profoundly change the way we work, live and communicate.
Professor Cai believes that the progress of science and technology is an inevitable trend. The rise of big data and artificial intelligence brings opportunities and challenges to the society. In his view, the world is becoming a quantifiable world. Big data enables business, literature, film and music to conduct quantitative analysis. In the financial field, FinTech uses technology and big data to provide better financial services for customers and enterprises, and makes machine intelligence an investment consultant for customers. Personalized data enables data analysis from the group to the individual level, such as refined Quasi medical treatment, precision education, precision marketing, etc. Big data statistical analysis is gradually playing a more and more important role in various fields, which has an important influence and guiding significance on the contemporary scientific spirit and driving social entity economy.
At the same time, the adverse social impact brought by big data and artificial intelligence, such as privacy issues, social equity issues, unemployment issues and other challenges cannot be ignored. He pointed out that although machine learning is very effective, it still lacks theoretical basis and cause and effect analysis, as well as the aggravation of technical challenges and a wide range of data. How to balance statistical accuracy and algorithm efficiency is a problem that needs to be paid attention to.
Facing the development trend of big data and artificial intelligence, how should colleges and universities adapt to this trend and reshape the new education ecology in the future? Professor Cai believes that from the perspective of talent cultivation, big data and artificial intelligence are emerging disciplines, which are in short supply. If colleges and universities can keep up with the trend of the times and offer corresponding courses, effectively cultivate data analysis talents and do a good job in general education, then there will be a good development opportunity in the future.
During the communication section, the students held extensive discussions with Professor Cai on big data and artificial intelligence. The lecture of "scholars lecture" has a wide influence and attracted more than 80 teachers and students both inside and outside the school. Professor Cai outlined the future development trend of big data and artificial intelligence, which has profound enlightenment significance.
Introduction to scholars lecture hall and guests
Scholars lecture is an important part of COB business lecture. It aims to enhance the research level and subject influence of business school by inviting well-known experts and scholars at home and abroad to give lectures on major research issues in economy and management. The first speaker is Professor Cai Tianwen, Vice Dean of Wharton Business School of University of Pennsylvania.
Tony Cai is currently Daniel H. Silberberg professor in the Department of Statistics, Wharton Business School; Professor of Applied Mathematics and Computational Science, University of Pennsylvania; and senior scholar in the Department of Biostatistics, Epidemiology, and Informatics, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. In 2006, he was elected member of the International Society of Mathematical Statistics. In 2008, he won the COPSS Presidents' Award, which is regarded as the "Nobel" prize in statistics. In 2017, he was elected chairman of ICSA. In 2019, he won the outstanding achievement award of Pan China Statistical Society. He was the editor in chief of Annals of Statistics, one of the top international statistical journals, and a member of the editorial board of several authoritative academic journals.