AI’s Transformative Power in Scientific Exploration

Professor Wei-Ying Ma, Huiyan Chair Professor and Chief Scientist of the Institute for AI Industry Research (AIR) at Tsinghua University, delivered a HKIAS Distinguished lecture titled “Generative AI for Scientific Discovery” on 11 June 2024. The event drew a full house of over a hundred participants, comprising a diverse audience of researchers, scholars, and enthusiastic students, all eager to explore the potential of AI in scientific exploration. Notably, industry professionals from leading companies and organizations, including representatives from Foxconn and the Hong Kong Productivity Council, also showed keen interest and attended the lecture.

Initially employed in content creation, generative AI has expanded its reach to molecule generation. Professor Ma’s presentation shed light on the applications of AI in scientific research, with a particular focus on drug discovery, protein engineering, antibody design, and the exploration of new chemical compounds. By leveraging generative AI, researchers can uncover hidden patterns, structures, and relationships within complex datasets, accelerating scientific breakthroughs to new heights.

Professor Jianping Wang, Associate Provost (Academic Affairs) at City University of Hong Kong, facilitated the lecture, adding insightful remarks and questions to the discussion.

Professor Wei-Ying Ma, an expert in AI for Science, leads a dedicated team at Tsinghua University. Their research focuses on AI-powered drug discovery and generative AI applications in biology and chemistry. With extensive experience, Professor Ma has published over 300 papers and holds 169 patents. Previously, he was a Vice President and Head of the AI Lab at ByteDance, where he led the development of various AI-powered content creation and dissemination technologies integrated into products such as Douyin, TikTok, Jinri Toutiao, CapCut, and Lark.

This lecture is supported in part by the Kwang Hua Educational Foundation.

More information about the lecture, please click here.