From Research to Real-World Impact: AI in Action with Sun Sumei
Release Date: 11/14/2024
Virtuals Protocol and the intersection of Agentic AI & Web3 with Jansen Teng
Analyse Asia
"What does great look like? For us, it's being able to achieve this vision of a society of agents. So, if you can show clearly the economic value of a society when agents can influence other agents, agents can influence humans, and humans can influence agents, that would be something that I'll be very proud to say that we've accomplished. Because that's the beauty of really combining breakthroughs on the AI, on the autonomous agent front, and the value add of crypto. This is one of those very rare moments that crypto has that true potential value add, right? As a productivity lever and an...
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Why Southeast Asia Matters with Gullnaz Baig
Analyse Asia
"People always ask us this question, what can I learn from that country? People ask us about this from the report especially when we're talking to policymakers, or what should I learn from Malaysia? What should I learn? The thing to learn is to not learn to replicate exactly. But the thing to learn is sort of what are the principles behind what works for them. What are your comparative advantages, Every country needs to be asking that for themselves. So for Vietnam, comparative advantages are things like proximity to China, and an ability at a geopolitical level to navigate between...
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The Transition to Electric Buses: The KMB Experience & Philanthrophy with William Louey
Analyse Asia
“ Yeah. We plan to replace the fleet by 2040. We can't scrap all of them now because each bus lasts 18 years. So we have the depreciation for 18 years. They're all from the U.K. All the buses are from the U.K. All the double-deckers. That's the only country that makes double-decker buses, and it's the same as Singapore. All the double-deckers are from the U.K. Because of COVID, when we replace all these diesel buses with electricity, you need a lot more power and electricity to accommodate this. So the government has to work with us. But today, we can't really see that if we import all...
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The China Business Conundrum with Ken Wilcox
Analyse Asia
"But what I didn't realize is that the main reason they wanted us in China was so that they could study our business model and figure out how to copy it over time. And that was something I wasn't expecting, but I should have. If I were less naive, And if I were better prepared, I would have realized that was the intention. So the original title, the working title I had for my book, which I had to change because the publisher didn't like it, my original title was 'One Bed, Two Dreams' (同床异梦). Because that's a phrase that most Chinese are familiar with." - Ken Wilcox Fresh out of the...
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ExtraOrdinary: From Stay-at-Home Mom to Global Entrepreneur with Yvon Bock
Analyse Asia
"So, my definition of being fearless is not about no fear, but it's having that courage to face your fear, to conquer whatever adversities that are thrown your way. it is part of the entrepreneur journey. We are always faced with fear of failure. Self Doubt is how to pick up our courage and face them and use these challenges to become your catalyst for innovation, the catalyst for growth, the catalyst for your success." - Yvon Bock Fresh out of the studio, Yvon Bock, Founder and CEO of Hegen, shares her inspiring journey from stay-at-home mom to world-class entrepreneur in her new book,...
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Unlocking the Power of Generative AI in Dow Jones with Ingrid Verschuren
Analyse Asia
"So, we are very conscious of the fact that we license the content from other publications. And as I mentioned previously, we do that through licensing agreements. We are transparent with the publishers about what happens with their content. We ensure that they are being fairly compensated for the content that we use. But, as a result, when we started talking about how we wanted to use Gen AI, we actually felt that we had an obligation to go back to publishers and ask for additional licensing rights. Part of that, I think, is driven by the fact that Dow Jones is a publisher. We are a publisher...
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From Research to Real-World Impact: AI in Action with Sun Sumei
Analyse Asia
"The efficiency on top of the efficacy because it is critical that we will achieve this balance of cost and performance. And in addition to that, I think one more aspect we are putting emphasis is actually how, in the new era of AI, all pervasive intelligence and pervasive connectivity, how do we bring human, AI, and machine into a cohesive coexistence and also cohesive collaboration so that we are able to have actually the AI machine support human, empower human, and at the same time. We look at actually the design of the workflows so that we are able to extract out the value, at the same...
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The e-Conomy Southeast Asia 2024 Report with Sapna Chadha, Fock Wai Hoong & Florian Hoppe
Analyse Asia
"The key message of the report is that the fundamentals of this region are critical, they’re clear, and businesses are doing exactly, I think, what they need to do for us to move ahead." - Sapna Chadha "Given that one of the other themes we’ve had this year is trust, having a strong regulatory foundation and good constructs around that for digital financial services is critical to unlocking the next wave of growth here." - Florian Hoppe "All 10 ASEAN nations have announced their own national strategic AI initiatives or plans, and ASEAN itself has actually released a report and guide on AI...
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Data Centres in the Era of AI with Jay Park
Analyse Asia
Fresh out of the studio, Jay Park, Chief Development Officer of Digital Edge, explores the rapidly transforming landscape of data centres in the Asia-Pacific region. Kicking off with the story of Jay’s remarkable career in building cutting-edge data centres, we dive into the explosive growth fueled by AI and the innovative cooling and energy solutions Digital Edge is pioneering to address environmental challenges. Jay also examines the impact of advanced AI chips on next-generation data centre engineering and shares his vision of what great would look like to design efficient and sustainable...
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Resetting Expectations on Southeast Asia with Arnaud Bonzom
Analyse Asia
"So that's why if you have 1 billion to invest, we're not expecting the same return as if you invest 10 million. At that time, when all this money flowed to Southeast Asia, people there thought, "Oh, we made it. Now the world is looking at us. We're finally a good ecosystem.' Everyone was ready to invest in us, but that was just the tide, right? And when the tide recedes, the first place the money will leave is Southeast Asia because it's not offering the best returns. So, the money is going out, and I don't think it's coming back anytime soon. People shouldn't expect investors to be as...
info_outline"The efficiency on top of the efficacy because it is critical that we will achieve this balance of cost and performance. And in addition to that, I think one more aspect we are putting emphasis is actually how, in the new era of AI, all pervasive intelligence and pervasive connectivity, how do we bring human, AI, and machine into a cohesive coexistence and also cohesive collaboration so that we are able to have actually the AI machine support human, empower human, and at the same time. We look at actually the design of the workflows so that we are able to extract out the value, at the same time, also elevate the human to do more creative works. So this is one aspect. I think we have been hearing a lot, but how this will move forward is some efforts have started, and certainly we look forward to gathering more ecosystem partners to embark on this journey together." - Dr Sun Sumei, Executive Director, Institute of Infocomm Research, ASTAR
Fresh out of the studio, Dr. Sun Sumei, Executive Director of the Institute for Infocomm Research (I2R) at Singapore’s ASTAR shares her perspectives on AI’s fast-paced evolution and its broader impact on the future. With over a decade dedicated to AI research, Dr. Sumei reflects on I2R’s journey from big data analytics to the era of Generative AI, emphasizing large language models designed for Southeast Asia. Advocating for responsible AI, Dr. Sumei prioritizes societal benefit and sustainability over sheer technical ambition, urging a balanced, systematic approach to distinguish valuable applications from mere hype. Last but not least she shares her vision of AI as a force to enhance human creativity and address real-world challenges through sustainable innovation."
Audio Episode Highlights:
[0:46] - Introduction to Sun Sumei and her role at ASTAR
[2:09] - Sun Sumei’s journey from China to Singapore
[2:50] - The mission of the Institute for Infocomm Research (I2R)
[4:00] - Research at I2R blending innovation with commercial applications
[4:11] - Career lessons from Sun Sumei’s extensive experience in science and technology
[6:32] - The evolution of AI and its rapid advancements
[7:15] - Striking a balance between performance and cost in AI
[8:11] - Collaborating with Singapore Airlines on AI for fleet optimization
[9:55] - Focus on multimodal AI and large language model development
[11:26] - AI for manufacturing: The AIM initiative
[12:20] - MerLion: I2R multi-modal LLM in the works
[13:27] - The future of AI in scientific discovery and its potential for sustainability
[16:03] - The balance between necessary and unnecessary AI applications
[16:55] - Responsible AI: Navigating the curiosity phase
[19:10] - Achieving success in AI through efficiency and model optimization
[20:52] - What constitutes success in AI: Technical breakthroughs vs. societal impact
[22:48] - AI for good: Contributing to humanity and sustainability
[24:02] - The importance of a systematic approach to AI
[24:53] - Closing remarks and future expectations for AI
You can find Dr Sun Sumei here in ASTAR: https://www.a-star.edu.sg/i2r/about-i2r/i2r-management/sun-sumei and her LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sumei-sun-8590814/?originalSubdomain=sg
Podcast Information: Bernard Leong hosts and produces the show. Proper credits for the intro and end music: "Energetic Sports Drive" and the episode is mixed & edited in both video and audio format by G. Thomas Craig
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