Founding Members from Pillar Industries and the Leaders in the AI Community

Come Together to Celebrate the Launch of the Association

HONG KONG, Nov. 29, 2024 –The Artificial Intelligence Association of Hong Kong (AIHK) is excited to announce its official launch and its plans to propel Hong Kong’s AI innovation. AIHK is an independent, industry-agnostic platform dedicated to promoting and advancing the development, adoption, commercialization, and use of AI across businesses, corporates, enterprises, institutions and organizations that operate in Hong Kong and beyond.

AIHK is founded and chaired by Neil Tan, who has over 20 years of experience in corporate strategy, mergers & acquisitions, business and partnership development across the banking, management consulting and tech industries. Neil is currently the Managing Partner at Tsunami Advisors, an advisory and consulting firm dedicated to helping FinTech, Artificial Intelligence, Digital Asset, and Web3 firms expand, grow and scale in the Asia Pacific Region. He is also one of the committee members of Task Force on Promoting Web3 Development established by the Hong Kong SAR Government under Financial Secretary Paul Chan.

“Our mission is clear: to position Hong Kong as a global AI innovation hub. By bringing together leaders from various sectors, we will create a collaborative environment that fosters AI innovation and accelerates the adoption of the technology to drive growth for key industries that make up Hong Kong’s economy. The association will provide the perfect platform for business leaders, technology innovators and the public sector to come together to advance the understanding, application and use of AI for the betterment of business, industry and society,” said Neil Tan, Founder & Chairman of AIHK at the launch ceremony. 

AIHK’s Founding Members include C-Suites and senior executives from prominent organizations including AXA Hong Kong and Macau, Cathay Pacific, Clifford Chance, Chow Sang Sang, DBS Bank, HKT, Li & Fung, Prudential Hong Kong, PwC HK, Standard Chartered, Tessellation and Towngas to name a few. Founding Members represent key sectors in Hong Kong including the consumer, energy, finance, insurance, legal, logistics, manufacturing, retail, telecom, and transport sectors, and all of them have roles and responsibilities for driving the AI strategy and execution within their respective organizations.

AIHK’s Mission and Vision

AIHK was set up with the goal to foster a vibrant AI ecosystem and better position Hong Kong as a leading AI innovation hub. AIHK’s mission is to help businesses and organizations harness the potential and power of AI, align with international standards and introduce new AI-related use cases and applications to boost productivity, efficiency and competitiveness across the key industries in Hong Kong.

The four pillars of AIHK’s strategy includes:

1. Policy & Governance
   
   AIHK will actively engage with policymakers to influence and shape AI regulations that impact businesses in Hong Kong, ensuring that the interests of its members are represented. The association will advocate for robust corporate governance frameworks that promote ethical and responsible AI use across all sectors.
   
   
   
   
2. Ecosystem & Community
   
   AIHK aims to foster a vibrant ecosystem that supports collaboration among businesses, researchers, and government entities, enhancing the overall AI landscape in Hong Kong. By building a strong community, AIHK will facilitate networking opportunities that encourage the sharing of best practices, use cases and innovative applications.
   
   
   
   
3. Collaboration & Partnership
   
   AIHK will serve as a catalyst for collaboration among industry professionals, leading researchers, and global experts to drive joint initiatives that address common challenges in AI implementation. Through strategic partnerships, the association will enhance knowledge exchange and promote the development of AI technologies that benefit the broader community.
   
   
   
   
4. Knowledge & Education
   
   AIHK will work closely with its members and external partners to provide educational resources that keep stakeholders and the broader ecosystem informed about industry trends and advancements in AI. By offering workshops, seminars, and knowledge-sharing sessions, AIHK will empower its members to enhance their skills and understanding of responsible AI practices.
   
   
   
   By embracing a cross-sector, cross-function, and cross-industry approach, AIHK believes that diverse perspectives will drive innovation and growth in the AI industry.  

Calling on Industry Leaders and Members of the AI Community

Whether it’s an individual who wants to contribute to Hong Kong‘ AI development, corporations that are looking towards digital transformation, or Small to Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) and startup ventures looking to AI to scale their business and operations, AIHK welcomes industry leaders and corporate members of the AI community to participate. AIHK will focus on growing its network, members’ expertise and technical know-how to help shape different industries and together, advance the development, adoption, commercialization, and use of AI across Hong Kong and beyond.

AIHK membership will provide members with exclusive networking opportunities, access to AIHK-organized events, on-demand webinars, contribution to industry whitepapers, discounts to workshops and seminars, as well as co-marketing and thought leadership opportunities.

A word from AIHK’s Corporate Founding Members

Dominic Maffei, Head of Digital Assets & Fintech, Hong Kong, at Standard Chartered, remarked, “AI-driven innovations are not just trends; they’re essential for staying competitive in the evolving financial landscape. Incorporating AI into operations allows businesses to predict market trends and enhance efficiency.”

Natasha Cheng, Director of Tessellation Group, said, “AI accelerates design and prototyping process, optimizes supply chains with accurate demand forecasting, automates production for efficiency, enhances quality control through image recognition, enables mass customization, and offers insights into consumer behavior – ultimately saving costs and time for a more agile future.”

Queenie Chan, General Manager of Business Analytics & e-Development at Towngas, said, “Artificial intelligence is set to revolutionize the energy sector by enhancing operational efficiency and optimizing customer engagement strategies. The establishment of the Artificial Intelligence Association of Hong Kong is a crucial initiative that will drive innovation and collaboration across industries, positioning Hong Kong as a global leader in AI advancements.”

Rocky Mui, Partner at Clifford Chance, highlighted the importance of regulation and said, “The decisions made by regulators in the coming months and years about how to regulate AI will be critical to the AI innovation landscape in Hong Kong and beyond. AI regulation should promote agility, innovation and clarity for businesses, but also transparency, accountability, and fairness, ensuring that AI systems are designed and deployed in a manner that aligns with ethical standards and societal values. Collaboration between regulators and industry will be key to ensuring that we have a responsible AI policy that strikes the right balance between fostering innovation and safeguarding stakeholders.”

Sam Lim, Chief Information Technology Officer of Prudential Hong Kong, stated, “Artificial Intelligence is revolutionizing the insurance industry. Our unwavering commitment to Al applications ensures that we consistently deliver value and security to our customers.”

About AIHK

The Artificial Intelligence Association of Hong Kong (AIHK) is a non-profit association dedicated to promoting and advancing the development, adoption, commercialization, and use of AI across businesses, corporates, enterprises, institutions and organizations. The mission of AIHK is to propel and position Hong Kong as a global AI innovation hub by bringing together leaders from various sectors, creating a collaborative environment that fosters AI innovation and accelerating the adoption of the technology to drive growth for key industries that make up Hong Kong’s economy.

Appendix

List of Founding Members by alphabetical order:

 (Corporate Founding Members are designated with *)

Artificial intelligence has gained widespread popularity and become a part of daily routines. In 2022, AI achieved a major milestone with numerous innovations and advancements. During the first quarter of 2022, image and text-to-image generation experienced a technological revolution. With the introduction of tools like MidJourney and DALL-E 2, people were able to experiment with creating unique, high-quality content for various purposes.

Currently, artificial intelligence algorithms are evaluated using intelligence standards that surpass human comprehension, particularly in areas such as AI applications in supercomputers and quantum computers. This revolution in AI is due to advances in deep learning techniques and the development of large-scale neural networks, such as OpenAI’s Generative Pre-trained Transformer (GPT) series. However, the surge in collaboration between industries and machine learning solution companies is contributing to the expansion of the global artificial intelligence market.

Core technology behind the streamlined working of AI

Natural language processing (NLP) powers many technologies including virtual assistants like Siri and Alexa, language translation tools, and more accurate predictive text features. It enables computers to understand and communicate with humans naturally. Furthermore, it has the potential to fill the gap between people and machines, which has offered new avenues for the landscape.

NLP has reshaped company operations and customer interactions in the evolving business landscape. NLP-based chatbots and virtual assistants are revolutionizing customer support by delivering immediate responses, managing routine tasks, and offering personalized assistance. This enhances customer satisfaction while lowering operational expenses.

Furthermore, advancements in NLP are expected to transform in areas like conversational AI, document summarization, and AI-powered content creation. With ongoing progress in NLP technology, businesses are expected to gain enhanced tools for communication and decision-making. Companies using advanced language processing are likely to get ahead in a competitive market.

Enhancing AI abilities with multimodal approaches

Multimodal AI is emerging as a leading innovation in artificial intelligence for businesses. This technology involves machine learning models trained on various data types, such as speech, audio, text, and traditional numerical datasets. Multimodal AI aims to create a more holistic and human-like cognitive experience by integrating multiple modalities.

Enterprises integrate this latest AI technology to develop intelligent systems that analyze diverse data streams to upgrade natural language understanding, perception, and voice recognition. This results in a more refined user experience. For instance, Google DeepMind has recently gained attention with Gato, a multimodal AI system designed to handle language, visual, and robotic movement tasks.

Multimodal models enhance their learning process by integrating and analyzing diverse data types. This approach allows them to achieve a rich contextual understanding of a subject by considering each data type individually. Simultaneously, these AI systems perform a broader range of tasks as compared to unimodal systems. Depending on the model, they transform text prompts into AI-generated images, describe video content in simple language, create audio clips from photos, and more.

The switch from centralized to distributed IT management with AIOps

AIOps, or Artificial Intelligence for IT Operations, has become important as IT environments become more complicated and the demand for efficient management rises. It refers to advanced technology platforms that use machine learning, analytics, and data science to detect and fix IT problems automatically.

This transition shifted IT operations from centralized systems to a more distributed model along with workloads in the cloud and on-premises. With the increasing complexity of technology due to rapid innovation, IT teams faced greater pressure to manage and support a broader range of systems and devices.

AIOps blends intelligent automation with big data to reveal hidden connections and causal relationships across services, operations, and resources. This leads to more actionable insights, enhancing data usability and providing a better return on data analysis efforts. AIOps offers a cost-effective alternative to hiring large teams of IT staff and data scientists. It also minimizes the time and attention IT operations teams spend on routine tasks and minor alerts, leading to improved efficiency and lowered operational costs. Additionally, AIOps helps safeguard businesses from expensive service disruptions.

What to expect in the next decade?

Over the next decade, AI is projected to automate daily tasks across industries, resulting in greater cost savings, productivity improvements, and efficiency. From manufacturing and logistics to healthcare and finance, businesses are expected to rely more on AI-powered automation to streamline operations and fuel growth.

Machine Learning, a branch of AI, is expected to advance significantly in the next few years, leading to more refined algorithms and models. Deep Learning is expected to keep evolving, bringing new advancements in natural language processing, computer vision, and autonomous systems. At the same time, AI is anticipated to integrate with other emerging technologies like 5G, IoT, and blockchain, creating new possibilities and applications. This convergence is projected to fuel innovation and transformation in various fields, from smart cities and autonomous vehicles to personalized healthcare and precision agriculture.

Openai’s new model with advanced reasoning abilities

OpenAI introduced the highly anticipated O1, the first model in its AI series designed with advanced reasoning abilities, in September 2024. This new AI model handles intricate questions more quickly and effectively than humans. It is also better equipped to tackle difficult tasks and solve difficult problems in science, coding, and math compared to previous models. Its enhanced reasoning skills are valuable for researchers and developers across a range of fields. OpenAI mentioned that the company has designed these models to spend more time considering problems before providing answers, mimicking a more human-like approach.

The Telangana government signed a MoU with OpenAI in September 2024

The Telangana government signed 26 Memorandums of Understanding with global technology leaders, including OpenAI, Meta, NVIDIA, AWS, and Microsoft, as well as local companies like Yotta Data Services and CDAC. These agreements span seven fundamental aspects, including computer infrastructure, centers of excellence, skill development, startup innovation, generative AI, research and collaboration, and data annotation.

Winding up, AI’s rapid evolution due to advancements in NLP, multi-modal systems, and AIOps, is revolutionizing industries. With continuous improvements in machine learning and integration with emerging technologies, AI is expected to drive innovation, efficiency, and growth across multiple industries.

Relu, a pioneer in artificial intelligence solutions for dental labs and software providers, is proud to announce its expansion into the United States following global success with their dental treatment planning automations. This strategic move includes the opening of a new office in Harvard Square, Boston, scheduled for 1 October 2024, further reinforcing Relu’s commitment to pioneering dental technology in the world’s largest dental market.

Accelerating U.S. Presence to Strengthen Client and Partner Engagement

With the U.S. market rapidly becoming Relu’s fastest-growing segment, the company is establishing a direct presence to better serve its growing client base and foster closer collaborations.  To emphasise the significance of this U.S. expansion, Relu’s CEO and Co-Founder, Holger Willems, will relocate to the U.S. to personally lead the initiative.

“I’m excited to lead our U.S. expansion as we open our new Boston office. Relocating to the United States, the world’s largest dental market, allows us to be closer to our clients and partners, accelerating the adoption of our AI solutions in orthodontics and implantology,” explains Willems.

Reinforcing Growth through Dependable Innovation

At the core of Relu’s mission is a relentless drive for innovation to empower dental professionals to redefine patient care. The Relu® Engine embodies such ambition, transforming intricate dental procedures with breakthrough efficiencies and accuracy.

Philip Toh, former Strategy Director at Henry Schein, President at The Smilist, and Board Member at Relu, comments on the potential of this expansion: “With Relu stepping onto U.S. soil, we’re not just talking about market growth; we’re setting the stage for a revolution in dental care. The proximity to our user base will infuse our innovations with real-world insights, making every advancement deeply relevant and immediately valuable.”

About Relu

Relu is founded in 2019 with the dream of making dental treatments safer and faster. They plug in advanced computer vision and artificial intelligence to automate manual workflows. Their Relu® Engine and Relu® Creator are used by dental lab and software partners for more than thousands of orthodontic and implant treatments every day.