Academia Sinica to stress use of AI in humanities-based research

Taipei, July 1 (CNA) Academia Sinica, Taiwan's top academic institution, has established an artificial intelligence (AI) promotion office and will focus on how it can best be applied to humanities-based research, its president said Monday.

At the opening ceremony of the 35th Convocation of Academicians, James Liao (廖俊智) said the institution will take advantage of its rich humanities and sociology-related database to explore the use of AI in these fields while reviewing its impact on society.

Speaking to the press, Liao noted that the AI boom has just started and raises many potential legal and ethical issues.

By promoting the deployment of AI in the humanities and social sciences, "we hope to let students who were interested in these areas but turned to AI realize that studying humanities and social sciences is a good way to apply AI," he said.

This year's convocation, which runs until Thursday, is the first time the biennial event has not been held online since the COVID-19 pandemic.

Nearly 200 academicians attended the event held in Taipei's Nangang District, as well as President Lai Ching-te (賴清德), former Vice President Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁), and two ex-presidents of Academia Sinica, Wong Chi-huey (翁啟惠) and Lee Yuan-tseh (李遠哲).

A total of 27 newly selected academicians were honored -- six from the Mathematics and Physical Sciences division, eight from the Engineering division, seven from the Life Sciences division, five from the Humanities and Social Sciences division, and one honorary academician.