On November 5, 2023, Rupert Lewis, Chief Science Policy Officer at the Royal Society, and his colleagues paid a visit to the Institute for AI International Governance (I-AIIG) at Tsinghua University.
Liang Zheng, Vice Dean of I-AIIG, extended a warm welcome to the guests and emphasized the significance of AI and data governance, acknowledging the global trend of major countries introducing policies to ensure technology and data applications properly align with regulations and standards. For its part, I-AIIG has been fervently researching policy requirements in AI and data governance and actively seeking to expand international exchanges and collaboration in this field. Zheng expressed eagerness for further dialogue and cooperation with the Royal Society, specifically regarding AI and data policy projects in China and the United Kingdom.
Rupert conveyed his pleasure in visiting Tsinghua University and expressed his gratitude for I-AIIG’s hospitality. He acknowledged China’s rapid data expansion and widespread application scenarios and highlighted the nation’s prominent role in the global data policy landscape. He also emphasized that policy and regulation formulation should favor outcomes over technologies, stressing the importance of ethics and governance, standards and norms, and risks and security while promoting AI applications. He eagerly expressed a desire for deeper academic research collaboration with I-AIIG in the fields of AI and data.
The event was also joined by Areeq Chowdhury, Head of Policy, Data and Digital Technologies at the Royal Society; June Brawner, Senior Policy Adviser at the Royal Society; and Professor Chen Zhong from Peking University’s School of Computer Science.