Dialogue With Shao Yilei, Dean of Shanghai Institute of Artificial Intelligence and Finance, ECNU: In the AI Era, Schools With a Strong Humanities Background Will Have a Great Advantage
Finance is the lifeblood of the national economy that affects the pockets of ordinary people, and is also an important part of the country's core competitiveness. AI is undoubtedly the most "dynamic" industry, and it is also the driving force behind the innovation of thousands of industries. These two industries that have a profound impact on the development of human society have not yet shown a refreshing and wonderful response.Technology is still playing a greater role in the digital transformation of the financial industry and is far from penetrating into core businesses.
The reason is that the financial industry has strict requirements in terms of security, privacy and risk control, and the current application of AI in the financial field lacks effective regulatory methods and standards, resulting in the core business still using traditional systems. Secondly, the "accountability" of decision-making in the financial field cannot be ignored, and whether AI can be responsible for its decisions remains to be discussed.
So, today when the entire industry is holding high the banner of AI innovation, how can AI be applied to the core areas of finance?
Unexpectedly, East China Normal University, which is known for its humanities and social sciences, took the lead in exploring the issue. On the last day of May,The world's first education and research institution built around the intersection of artificial intelligence and finance was officially unveiled.
As the founding dean of Shanghai Institute of Artificial Intelligence for Finance (SAIFS) at East China Normal University, Dr. Shao Yilei said frankly, “The impact of AI is the transformation of financial paradigms and traditional business models.So what we are pursuing is not an upgrade from 1.0 to 2.0, but a leap from 1.0 to 100.0."
HyperAI was fortunate to have an in-depth interview with Dean Shao Yile after the founding ceremony of SAIFS. We learned more about the vision and development plan of the new school, and also saw the unique insights of this founding dean with outstanding action ability on AI+Finance.
Social sciences are crucial in the new wave of AI
As the first socialist normal university established in New China, East China Normal University's education, geography, and social sciences are among the best in the country and even in the world. In people's inherent impression, this old and famous university with a strong humanities and social sciences does not seem to be so "radical" in innovative research on AI, but Dr. Shao Yilei believes that"In the era of artificial intelligence, schools with strengths in humanities will have a great advantage."
She suggested that in the era of artificial intelligence, we must walk on two legs. Now one leg is very long, and if the other leg does not follow up, it will also be "lame."
in,The "leg" that has already flourished refers to AI technology.At present, whether it is the hot large models or other hard core AI research, people are accustomed to focusing their main efforts on the continuous innovation of AI technology, from the growth of model parameters to the surge in performance, from the accumulation of vertical data to the improvement of GPU utilization... Breakthroughs in technical details can even refresh people's cognition on a daily basis.
The other "leg" refers to the research on AI society in the humanities and social sciences.Technology without application is like a carefully crafted work of art that amazes the world but will eventually be shelved. "The technology or things that will ultimately have an impact on humans must be social," Dr. Shao Yilei also said figuratively, "AI may be a super genius baby, but it is only two or three years old now. We should teach it how to adapt to society and create a society where AI and humans coexist."
The reason why she chose to explore innovation in AI+finance is, on the one hand, closely related to her personal experience, and on the other hand, because AI and finance have many similarities in the development of human society, which can confirm and reference each other.
Combining two important experiences in life
Shao Yilei, who has excellent academic performance, studied in the joint study class of Shanghai Jiaotong University. After entering university directly from high school, she was able to choose any major. It was precisely because of this peculiarity that she was exposed to many interdisciplinary courses in humanities and social sciences during her undergraduate studies. At that time, computer science was still in its early stages, and related research in China was relatively closed and backward. The reason why she chose this major was also very simple. "At the age of 18, it was impossible to think clearly about what I wanted to do in the future. I didn't know what computer science was at the time, but I thought since it was difficult, I might as well learn it!"
This "learning" took her from undergraduate to doctoral level, and from Shanghai Jiao Tong University to Princeton.
While pursuing a PhD in computer science at Princeton University, she and her team at Princeton co-founded http://FirstRain.com, engaged in the in-depth mining of financial information. In 2005, after obtaining her doctorate, she joined the credit derivatives department of Goldman Sachs Bank in New York. It was this experience that made her realize that "technology can bring a lot of power and efficiency to finance."
In 2010, Shao Yilei decided to return to China to start a business. At a time when domestic e-commerce was developing rapidly, she co-founded "Stereo Times" with her long-time friend Dr. Chen Xiaomin, and launched the first intelligent recommendation engine for fashion e-commerce. Later, she changed her identity to become an investor, investing in many high-tech innovation projects that "change the future with computing."
In her, we can see the meticulous logical thinking and creativity of science and engineering, as well as the profound insight and dialectical viewpoints of the humanities on social development.
"I think it's impossible for a person to do just one thing in his or her life. I have a wide range of interests and am willing to try new things." She said frankly about returning to academia to engage in education.“It was very challenging, so I decided to give it a try.”
also,Shao Yile also hopes to combine two important experiences in her life - a deep computer science researcher and a financial practitioner with rich practical experience.She believes that the combination of the two will have a very broad research space and potential, and will become a high-quality soil for the transformation of industry, academia and research.
Thus, the "Artificial Intelligence Finance College" took shape.
AI and finance are both manifestations of “big control without division”
Putting aside Dr. Shao Yilei's personal experience,The combination of AI and finance is itself an inevitable trend. Both play an important role in the development of modern society. She calls it "big system without division."
"The great system has no divisions" comes from the "Tao Te Ching" which says "When simple things are scattered, they become tools; when sages use them, they become officials. The great system has no divisions." It originally meant that craftsmen cut logs into sizes, processed them into parts, and then connected them step by step in an orderly manner to form devices; sages govern the country according to the rules of division of labor, appoint officials to perform their duties, and connect and organize the various responsibilities to form a complete national governance system. This is the great system has no divisions, which emphasizes the integrity of the system.
Shao Yilei believes that "AI and finance are both the most vivid social expressions of the big system."
She proposed that finance shaped the world system after World War II and is the lifeblood of the entire society, supplying blood for the operation of the social economy, that is, money flows through capillaries to various industries in society, with huge breadth and width. Similarly, AI should also penetrate into all aspects of people's lives, shaping the current world pattern and the future of coexistence between humans and other types of intelligence.
She vividly compared it to the fact that "in the past, money flowed through the veins of economic societies, driving economic development and GDP growth. In the future, AI will also flow through these veins, which means ubiquitous intelligence." AI and finance have many similarities, such as their wide coverage, fluid complexity, and being an important driving force for the development of human society.
In summary, when understanding the relationship between AI and finance, we cannot simply start from a technical perspective without considering the characteristics of the current social financial system. On the contrary, it is equally important to find a suitable foothold for AI in the complex financial business. In this process,In addition to knowledge of AI and finance, one must also have a deep understanding of the rapidly changing humanities and society, which requires the knowledge of philosophy and social sciences.
In short, the complexity of AI+Finance not only requires an interdisciplinary background, but also requires taking into account the social nature of both, which is precisely the advantage of East China Normal University.
Building a bridge between financial institutions and technology companies
Looking back on the founding process of Shanghai Institute of Artificial Intelligence and Finance at East China Normal University, it fully demonstrates Shao Yile’s innovative spirit and drive based on her science and engineering background.
After the idea of AI+Finance sprouted in her mind, she conducted extensive research and compared the characteristics and advantages of the business management/finance schools of domestic universities. However, she did not rush to start preparations, but first planned and prospected the development route and direction of the new school.
She believes that"In the era of artificial intelligence, it is not discipline + AI, but AI + discipline."That is to say, the impact of AI on disciplines will be a more thorough transformation. Therefore, "my goal is not to upgrade the existing financial and economic colleges from 1.0 to 2.0 or 3.0, but to achieve a leap from 1.0 to 100.0."
Starting from the goal, Shao Yilei found that this development path is more suitable for a new college. Only by breaking away from the constraints of the existing framework can more attempts be made. She proposed,"AI runs through the entire process of building the college. It is not a goal, but a part of the college."
Talking about her encounter with East China Normal University, she said it was a process of chance and she came to "a place where very rare and interesting things can happen."
Introduced by Wu Guanjun, dean of the School of Political Science and International Relations at East China Normal University, Shao Yilei attended many "philosophers' parties". During the conversations, she gradually discovered that"ECNU has many liberal arts scholars who are interested in artificial intelligence and advanced technologies, which is actually very rare."This also gave her a new understanding of this traditional normal college.
In July 2023, she "met frequently" with Professor Meng Zhongjie, Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee of East China Normal University, and Professor Yin Desheng, Dean of the School of Economics and Management, and finally finalized the name "Shanghai Institute of Artificial Intelligence and Finance". Afterwards, she sorted out the development strategy of the college and further determined the positioning of the college.
At this point, the "Artificial Intelligence College" has taken shape.
On the last day of May this year, the Shanghai Institute of Artificial Intelligence and Finance of East China Normal University was officially inaugurated.Shao Yile and her team also submitted their first answer sheet - Financial Intelligence Analyst Jason.This is a financial vertical AI Agent developed by the Shanghai Institute of Artificial Intelligence and Finance of East China Normal University. It can analyze complex financial problems with the thinking mode of professional financial practitioners. It has three major capabilities: financial investment research, financial consulting, and financial security. It can be widely used in a series of financial institutions such as commercial banks, investment banks, venture capital, private equity, hedge funds, asset management, and financial service providers.
Shao Yilei introduced that Jason is a product "to industry". At present, the development of large models is mostly led by technicians and driven by technology. There is no doubt that computer scientists can design and develop large models with first-class performance, but due to the lack of financial vertical knowledge, it often results in the phenomenon of "shooting mosquitoes with cannons", which does not meet the actual needs of financial institutions.
"Bridges must be built."The financial industry itself has extremely complex system processes and business logic, so this "bridge" is also a "translator". On the one hand, it instills financial logic into the big model, and on the other hand, it allows financial practitioners to see the capabilities of AI, so that they can carry out innovative reforms on more business nodes.
In addition, she believes that "when technology companies knock on the door, financial institution practitioners need to open the door from the inside." This seemingly simple action not only improves the efficiency of model development, but also solves the risk control problem of AI finance. Obviously, there are still many doors that have not been opened, which is also the key research direction of Shanghai Institute of Artificial Intelligence Finance in the future.
Shao Yilei introduced that innovative design of financial architecture, how to build a bridge architecture between AI and finance, how to ensure risk control and security, etc. are all very good research topics. In the future, the focus of the college's research will not be on basic issues such as fine-tuning and training of large financial models, but on exploring the speed of blood flow in social blood vessels - when AI and finance merge and advance together, the flow rate cannot be too fast or too slow, and the blood volume cannot be scarce or excessive. It is very important to find a balance between them, which is a topic that requires in-depth research.
Conclusion
A PhD in Computer Science from Princeton University, an investment banker at Goldman Sachs, an entrepreneur, an investor, and the Secretary-General of the IJCAI China Office... Looking back on the past, technology and finance have been closely intertwined in Shao Yilei's experience. Starting again this time, she chose to devote herself to the academic world and practice her innovative ideas about AI+finance in a broader and freer space. It can be foreseen that the road to pioneering is bound to be full of thorns. Let us look forward to the Shanghai Institute of Artificial Intelligence and Finance, led by her, to bring more cutting-edge results and create a benchmark case for AI research in my country.