We are thrilled to draw a full house of passionate participants from various industries to a seminar centered around the topic of “The Impact and Opportunities of Generative AI for Finance and Investment”. Organized by the HKUST Business School on January 17, the seminarengaged experts from leading organizations in the fields of IT, regulatory, and banking to shed light on the current and future state of Generative AI.
Generative AI or GenAI is a game-changing technology. This seminar builds on the recent launch of InvestLM, an open-source large language model developed by our research team for financial GenAI applications, to help spark innovation and foster collaboration.
Ms. Cally CHAN (second from right), General Manager of Microsoft Hong Kong and Macau, highlighted the key barriers to adopting GenAI underscoring the importance of employee training, and how Microsoft provides AI tools as companions to people rather than replacements. Ms. Chan also introduced the remarkable “ABCDEF” skill sets and attitudes for thriving in this AI-driven era: AI and Big Data are the two most important areas to study; Critical thinking is key, and Delegation is a crucial skill; developing EQ and being Flexible are essential.
Mr. Jimmy CHUNG (middle), Senior Director (Public Markets) Exchange Fund Investment Office of the HKMA, said that AI transformation is moving ahead at a faster-than-anticipated pace, while the fundamental investment principles remain unchanged. He stressed the importance of tripartite collaboration among industry, government, and universities to effectively navigate the wave of GenAI.
Dr. Juergen RAHMEL (second from left), Head of Digital, Technology and Innovation, Chief Digital Office HK at HSBC, shared the strategies for leveraging the age of AI in the finance sector. He suggested starting with non-sensitive data areas and transforming internal processes before customer-facing processes. For knowledge workers (and students), Dr. Rahmel suggested AI would better serve as a second opinion to complement human decision-making.
Prof. YANG Yi (right) of the Department of Information Systems, Business Statistics and Operations Management, explored the role of advancing research in this field. He believes reliable AI and an interface between Machine Learning and finance will be the key research areas in the coming years.
Prof. TAM Kar Yan (left), Dean of HKUST Business School and moderator of the discussion expressed his hopes that this seminar and other initiatives from the School can motivate practitioners in the finance and investment industry to think creatively and strategically in harnessing the power of GenAI.