In 2002, Peking University established the first Intelligent Science Department in China, setting up the major of Intelligent Science and Technology. On September 13, 2022, the Ministry of Education released the "Catalog of Disciplines for Graduate Education (2022 Edition)," officially recognizing Intelligent Science and Technology as a first-level discipline in the interdisciplinary category. To summarize the experience of past intelligent discipline construction and promote its vigorous development, Peking University held the 20th Anniversary Conference on Intelligent Discipline Construction in Beijing.
During the conference, Prof. Songchun Zhu, Dean of the School of Intelligent Science and Technology at Peking University, reviewed the history of twenty years of discipline construction. Benefiting from the foresight of the older generation of intelligent scholars at Peking University and the solid disciplinary foundation, Intelligent Science has become the vanguard of Peking University's "New Engineering" strategy. He introduced that in recent years, Peking University has aimed to build the "strategic ace troops" of national artificial intelligence, creating talent cultivation brands such as "General Class" and "Intelligent Class," constructing an excellent faculty team, and achieving fruitful results in nurturing talents. Peking University will adhere to the principles of "large-scale cross-disciplinary integration, large-scale platform construction, and large-scale tasks," continue to attract talent, carry out organized scientific research, and pursue the value of "heart for machines and wisdom for humanity," realizing Chinese thinking in conjunction with global technological advancements.
Youqun Ren, Director-General of the Department of Teachers in the Ministry of Education, pointed out that with the continuous development of informatization, there have been revolutionary changes in the ways of acquiring and disseminating knowledge and in the teacher-student relationship. He emphasized that the key to talent cultivation lies in teachers and expressed that the Ministry of Education actively promotes continuous educational development, attaches great importance to the profound influence of artificial intelligence on education, actively promotes the deep integration of artificial intelligence and education, and encourages educational reforms and innovations. He hoped that Peking University would continue to coordinate resources, integrate resources, and achieve more extensive and profound results in educational pilot work, exploring models that can be learned from and promoted.
Li Cheng, Chief Technology Officer of Alibaba Group, mentioned that Alibaba has long been committed to exploring various forms of cooperation between universities and enterprises to address the difficulties and problems in talent cultivation in the field of artificial intelligence. On the occasion of the 20th anniversary of intelligent discipline construction, Alibaba and Peking University have jointly established a collaborative laboratory to promote the innovation and transformation of scientific and technological achievements. Leveraging the rich talent resources of Peking University's intelligent discipline, Alibaba opens up its real business scenarios and research problems, helping students broaden their research perspectives and explore scientific frontiers.
Universities are the main battleground for the cultivation of talents in the field of intelligent disciplines. Peking University aims to cultivate top-notch, interdisciplinary talents in artificial intelligence for cutting-edge technology worldwide. With the goal of "general knowledge, general intelligence, and general applicability," Peking University has established the General Artificial Intelligence Experimental Class and the Intelligent Science and Technology Experimental Class, committed to building a team of technological elites with both humanistic literacy and professional depth. The conference held the opening ceremonies for the General Artificial Intelligence Experimental Class of the Peking University Class of 2022 and the Intelligent Science and Technology Experimental Class of the Peking University Class of 2022.
To promote the integration of industry, academia, and research, and leverage social resources such as government and enterprises to facilitate the innovation and transformation of scientific and technological achievements, Peking University, together with the Management Committee of Wuhan Donghu New Technology Development Zone, signed the "Peking University-Wuhan Donghu District Strategic Cooperation Agreement on Intelligent Social Governance" through cloud signing at the conference. At the same time, Peking University, Alibaba, Chery Group, and Cyclone Corporation jointly established the "Peking University-Alimama Artificial Intelligence Innovation Joint Laboratory," "Peking University-Sinobotics (Chery Holdings) Joint Laboratory for Intelligent Robots and Autonomous Driving," and "Peking University-Cyclone Super Automation Joint Laboratory," respectively, and held unveiling ceremonies for these collaborations.
The conference was hosted by Peking University and co-organized by ACM China, the Education Committee of the Chinese Association for Artificial Intelligence, and the Beijing Intstitute for General Artificial Intelligence. The School of Intelligent Science and Technology, the Institute for Artificial Intelligence, and the Wangxuan Institute of Computer Technology at Peking University were responsible for organizing the event.
