Panel 1
AI and Education
AI is everywhere in education, yet true literacy in it appears to be unevenly distributed. The integration of AI into education necessitates a profound transformation in the pedagogical mindset of educators, moving beyond traditional instructional frameworks to embrace a future where AI is both a ubiquitous tool and source of challenges. This critical shift involves cultivating a proactive approach to understanding AI’s capabilities and limitations, adapting teaching methodologies to leverage its potential for personalised learning and efficiency, and crucially, preparing students to critically engage with and ethically navigate an AI-driven world. Without this fundamental reorientation of educators’ perspectives, the profound benefits and challenges of AI in learning environments cannot be effectively harnessed or addressed. How must educators adapt to the changing winds of technology? How should academics seize upon the opportunities and address the challenges of AI embedment in education? If there is indeed an imminent paradigm shift in education, what would it look like? This panel brings together leading educators pioneering both theoretical and applied developments in AI.
Prof Soraj HONGLADROM
Prof Tien Yin WONG
Senior Vice Chancellor, Tsinghua Medicine, China/Singapore
Panel 2
The Philosophy of AI Governance: Getting the Concepts Right
This panel brings together philosophers working at the intersection of conceptual engineering, philosophy of mind, and AI to ask a deceptively simple question: are we thinking about AI with the right concepts? Panellists will examine whether key terms in AI discourse need to be revised, replaced, or retired — and what difference it makes for law, policy, and public understanding when we get them wrong. The session draws on both analytic and non-Western philosophical resources to develop frameworks adequate to systems that may not map onto any existing category of mind or agent.
Prof Herman CAPPELEN
Prof Rachel STERKEN
Prof Barry SMITH
Panel 3
AI, Law, and Regulation
The rapid advancement of AI presents unprecedented challenges and opportunities for legal and regulatory frameworks worldwide. Indeed, some may question the extent to which AI should be regulated in the first place – could organic, market incentives not serve as an adequate mechanism to preclude AI transgressions or harms? This panel will delve into critical issues such as data governance, algorithmic accountability, intellectual property rights, and the ethical implications of AI deployment across various sectors. Hong Kong, with its robust common law system, dynamic innovation ecosystem, and strategic position as a gateway between East and West, offers a particularly insightful and unique perspective on navigating these complex regulatory terrains. The panel will explore how existing laws are adapting, where new regulations are needed, and the delicate balance required to foster innovation while safeguarding societal values and individual rights.
Panel 4
AI in Governance and the Governance of AI
This panel addresses two related but distinct questions. First, how can governments use AI effectively in public administration and policymaking? Second, how should governments regulate and oversee AI development and deployment? These questions pull in different directions. A government eager to adopt AI as a tool for governance faces different pressures than one trying to set limits on how AI is used by others. Getting both right at the same time is a genuine challenge. The panel draws on perspectives from jurisdictions at different stages of AI integration, including India, Mongolia, the UK, and Singapore, to examine how political context, institutional capacity, and existing regulatory traditions shape what is feasible.
Ms Bolor BATTSENGEL
Former Vice Minister of Digital Development, UK/Mongolia
Dr Julian HUPPERT
Former MP for Cambridge, UK
Dr Anoop SINGH
Former Managing Director, Asia Pacific Department of International Monetary Fund, India
Prof Barry SMITH
Panel 5
On the Geopolitics and Global Governance of AI
AI development is reshaping relations between states, raising questions about whether meaningful international cooperation on AI is possible. Some see the conditions for a dangerous race: states competing for strategic advantage with little incentive to accept binding constraints. Others argue that shared risks, particularly around military applications and systemic safety, create genuine pressure toward coordination. Is great power competition compatible with durable international agreements on AI? Where, if anywhere, is consensus realistic? And what role can multilateral institutions play when the most consequential decisions are being made by a small number of states and corporations? This panel brings together experts from international institutions, policy organizations, and research groups working on these questions.
Prof George CHEN
Senior Fellow, HKU;
First Senior Policy Leader, Meta, HKSAR China
Dr Genie Sugene GAN
Co-Chair, CSA Alliance;
Chair for Cybersecurity, SGTech;
Singapore Digital Leader, IMDA;
Member, Coordinating Committee for Cybersecurity Singapore, Singapore
Dr Hongyu FU
Dr Yonghua LIN
Founder, IEEE WIE, China
Prof Qian XIAO
Deputy Director, Centre for International Security and Strategy, Tsinghua University, China