Keynote speakers
Prof. Qiang Yang
Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Academy for Artificial Intelligence
Title: Trustworthy Federated Learning and Federated Large Language Models
Abstract
In this talk, I will discuss research opportunities and challenges in trustworthy federated learning. I will review recent developments in integrating federated learning, transfer learning and large language models (LLM). Transfer learning is the ability in machine learning systems to adapt to new domains, tasks and situations. Federated learning allows for distributed machine learning with security guarantee and privacy preservation. These techniques allow multiple LLMs to collaborate in learning and reasoning. I will introduce these technologies and survey some of their applications in finance and science applications.
Bio
Prof. Qiang Yang is a fellow of AAAI, ACM, IEEE, and AAAS, Fellow of Royal Society of Canada and Fellow of Canadian Academy of Engineering, and the founding Editor in Chief of the ACM Transactions on Intelligent Systems and Technology (ACM TIST), and the founding Editor in Chief of IEEE Transactions on Big Data (IEEE TBD). He is a pioneer of AI, data science, etc. and their enterprise innovations.
Bio
Professor Qiang Yang’s research is in AI, especially federated learning, transfer learning and planning. He received his BSc. degree from Peking University in Astrophysics in 1982. He got his PhD degree in AI from the Department of Computer Science, University of Maryland, College Park, in 1989. He was a faculty member at the University of Waterloo and Simon Fraser University in Canada between 1989 and 2001. He was with the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology as a Chair Professor and Department Head before 2018. He was the Chief AI Officer at Webank (an internet bank) in China between 2018 and 2025. He is now the Chief AI Officer at Hong Kong Polytechnic University, where he is also the Director of Academy for Advanced AI. Professor Qiang Yang is a fellow of Canadian Academy of Engineering (CAE) and Royal Society of Canada (RSC). He is a fellow of IEEE, ACM, AAAI, AAAS, IAPR and CAAI. He was the President of IJCAI between 2019 and 2021 and President of Hong Kong Society of Artificial Intelligence and Robotics (HKSAIR). He was the Founding Editor in Chief of the ACM Transactions on Intelligent Systems and Technology (ACM TIST) and the Founding Editor in Chief of IEEE Transactions on Big Data (IEEE TBD). He received the ACM SIGKDD Distinguished Service Award in 2017 and the IJCAI Distinguished Service Award In 2023.
Prof. Hiroshi Ishiguro
Osaka University, Japan
Title: Avatar and the Future Society
Abstract
In this talk, the speaker will introduce the technologies of autonomous robots and avatars (teleoperated robots and CG characters) that he has developed and discuss how the avatar technology will change the world. It is important to enable people with various backgrounds and values, such as those who need to care for or raise children or the elderly, to participate in diverse activities according to their own lifestyles, and to realize a society in which people are free from the constraints of body, brain, space, and time. Avatar is the realization of such a society. The speaker is engaged in research, development, and business with the aim of enabling anyone to freely and remotely control multiple avatars and participate in diverse work, educational, medical, and everyday social activities without having to go to the field.
Bio
Prof. Hiroshi Ishiguro is a pioneer roboticist and engineer at Osaka University, Japan, also called the 'father of humanoids.' He is the Director of Hiroshi Ishiguro Laboratories at the Advanced Telecommunications Research Institute (ATR), the Project Manager of MOONSHOT R&D Project, Thematic Project Producer of EXPO 2025 Osaka, Kansai, Japan, and CEO of AVITA, Inc.
Bio
Prof. Hiroshi Ishiguro is a pioneer roboticist and engineer at Osaka University, Japan, also called the 'father of humanoids.' He is the Director of Hiroshi Ishiguro Laboratories at the Advanced Telecommunications Research Institute (ATR), the Project Manager of MOONSHOT R&D Project, Thematic Project Producer of EXPO 2025 Osaka, Kansai, Japan, and CEO of AVITA, Inc.
Prof. Ishiguro's research interests include interactive robotics, avatar, and android science. Geminoid is an avatar android that is a copy of himself. He received numerous awards, including The Ichimura Prize in Science for Excellent Achievement of ATR Fellow for his remarkable achievements on robotics in 2024, the Tateisi Award in 2020, the Osaka Cultural Award in 2011, the Prize for Science and Technology by the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology in 2015, and the Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Knowledge Award in Dubai in 2015. He received a honorary doctorate of Aarhus University in 2021.
Prof. Jon Whittle
Data61, Australia
Title: Being Human in a World of AI
Abstract
The pace of technology is faster than ever before. For those working in the field of AI, it can be overwhelming just to keep on top of latest developments. In an attention economy, it’s become increasingly hard to switch off and it’s only going to get harder as AI becomes our productivity guru, our coach, our friend, our therapist, even our soul-mate. In a world increasingly dominated by AI, where our attention is coupled to a machine, what does it mean to be human? How can we retain the best of human experience at the same time as reaping the benefits of AI? How should we try to influence the development of tech so that we end up with a society we want to live in, rather than one that’s been designed by accident?
Bio
Prof. Jon Whittle is the Director of Data61 at CSIRO, the digital and data science arm of Australia's national science agency. Prior to joining Data61, Jon was Dean of the Faculty of Information Technology at Monash University. He was named CEO Magazine's 2019 Education Executive of the Year. He was a former Technical Area Lead at NASA, where he worked on software for NASA space missions.
Bio
Prof. Jon Whittle is the Director of Data61 at CSIRO, the digital and data science arm of Australia's national science agency. Prior to joining Data61, Jon was Dean of the Faculty of Information Technology at Monash University. He was named CEO Magazine's 2019 Education Executive of the Year. He was a former Technical Area Lead at NASA, where he worked on software for NASA space missions.
Prof. Whittle is passionate about the role digital technologies can play in society, and has a world-leading reputation on how to adapt software development methods to fully take into account human values and ethics. With around 1000 staff and affiliates, Data61 is one of the largest collections of R&D expertise in Artificial Intelligence and Data Science in the world. Data61 partners with over 200 industry and government organisations, over 30 Universities, and works across vertical sectors in manufacturing, health, agriculture, and the environment. Data61 offers computer scientists, data scientists, engineers and designers a unique opportunity to work on cutting edge research that will translate into real-world positive impacts on society.