AI for Global Civilization: China-Singapore Dialogue Held in Singapore

AI for Global Civilization: China-Singapore Dialogue was held in Singapore on April 28. The event gathered around 100 participants, including experts, scholars, and representatives from Chinese and Singaporean academic institutions, cultural organizations, as well as technology and cultural enterprises. Participants engaged in in-depth discussions on China-Singapore digital industry cooperation and how digital and intelligent technologies empower inter-civilizational mutual learning. They also jointly showcased innovative achievements and frontier practices of both sides in the integrated field of culture and technology.

Opening remarks were delivered by Yuan Lin, Executive Assistant to the President of the Academy of Contemporary China and World Studies, and Wang Donghai, Associate Director of NUS Enterprise. Keynote speeches were delivered by Cai Yiyu, Professor at Nanyang Technological University; Director of the Computer-Aided Engineering Labs and The Strategic Research Program on Virtual Reality; Co-President of Association of Global Technomics Education and Exchange; Cui Kai, Director of the Digital Culture Promotion Department, Center for International Cultural Communication, China International Communications Group (CICG); and Yang Jianwei, Visiting Professor at the National University of Singapore.

Yuan Lin stated that the rapid development of artificial intelligence technology has injected new momentum into China-Singapore cultural exchanges. He stressed the importance of innovating cultural expression forms empowered by digital intelligence, upholding a correct value orientation in technological application, deepening people-to-people exchanges enabled by smart technologies, and actively exploring the profound value of intelligent technologies in advancing cross-cultural understanding.

Wang Donghai pointed out that it is essential to prioritize the integration of technological applications with social needs. Leveraging cutting-edge technologies such as artificial intelligence to build bridges for civilizational exchange helps enhance cross-cultural understanding, enabling technology to better serve humanity and drive social progress.

Cai Yiyu noted that Singapore is forging ahead in cutting-edge fields including semiconductors, aerospace and artificial intelligence, opening up broad prospects for bilateral cooperation between China and Singapore. He emphasized that digital and intelligent technologies can be harnessed to revitalize and inherit traditional culture via youthful, trendy formats, thereby further deepening scientific, technological and people-to-people exchanges between the two countries.

Cui Kai stated that intelligent imaging technology is profoundly reshaping the logic of cross-cultural narrative. Digital content creation is not merely about keeping pace with technological advancement; more importantly, it should take emotional resonance as the bond to break down cultural barriers, foster in-depth empathy, mutual learning and appreciation among global civilizations, and enable more outstanding civilizational achievements to be seen, understood and respected worldwide.

Yang Jianwei noted that artificial intelligence is becoming an important vehicle for inter-civilizational mutual learning, while cultural differences remain a core obstacle to cross-cultural communication. He advocated for the innovative and rational use of artificial intelligence in the future to eliminate prejudices and enhance civilizational understanding through technological power.

In the Case Sharing Session, guest speakers included Lisa Meng, Head of Singapore of Tencent Cloud International; Koh Chin Yee, Managing Director of Singapore Eye; Bai Yu, Director and Partner of LAiPIC; Hu Chengchen, Founder & CEO of ClariPpi (Singapore); Jane Zhao, SVP and Head of Global Business at Mininglamp Technology; and Jerry Tuo, AI Technology Director of Red Fun Planet. They delivered insightful presentations on the application prospects of artificial intelligence in content production as well as inter-civilizational mutual learning and exchange.

The participating guests agreed that artificial intelligence has brought revolutionary changes to the intelligent production, targeted communication and immersive presentation of cultural content. China and Singapore boast strong complementarity in digital infrastructure and cultural resources. Going forward, the two sides may deepen cooperation in joint research and development and scenario-based application, develop benchmark cultural-technology products and integrated solutions tailored for Southeast Asia, and jointly advance the high-quality development of the digital cultural industry.

This event was jointly hosted by the Academy of Contemporary China and World Studies and the Center for International Cultural Communication,CICG, with Nanyang Technological University and other cultural and business exchange institutions participating as supporting partners.