Distinguished Lecture Series

Distinguished Lecture Series | Chu Haoquan: Reassessing the Value and Risk of Regulating Human Genetic Modification in the Age of Artificial Intelligence

Release time:04 November 2024

Days ago, the “Distinguished Lecture Series,” organized by the School of Management and Economics (SME), The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen (CUHK-Shenzhen) and the Shenzhen Finance Institute (SFI), was successfully held in TxC203. Themed “Reassessing the Value and Risk of Regulating Human Genetic Modification in the Age of Artificial Intelligence,” the event featured Mr. Chu Haoquan, former Chief Economist of the International Finance Corporation, World Bank Group and Chief Economic Adviser of the Millennium Institute, as the guest speaker to explore the ways for humans to reassess the value and risk of regulating genetic modification in the face of the emerging technology of artificial intelligence (AI).

First, Mr. Chu introduced the three drivers of human progress and used them to explain the reason why science and technology in the world today are dominated by digital technology rather than biotechnology. Then he led the audience to discuss the huge survival pressure imposed by AI on human evolution. Finally, he revealed the method for promoting human progress from the spiritual level.

Furthermore, he pointed out that in the era of AI, the development of AI may bring two risks: AI, as a technology with great power, is controlled by humans with both rationality and primitiveness and may have a destructive effect on them; in a sense, if AI becomes more and more developed, makes breakthroughs in various fields, and surpasses humans, it will render human existence meaningless.

Finally, Mr. Chu said that if humans are to be genetically modified, what should be developed is “artificial virtues” to achieve spiritual progress and we should rely on “good people” to develop technology and further cultivate spiritual successors.