In the morning of September 6, Dr. Mehdi Snène, a Senior Advisor on AI and Digital Transformation from the Office of the Secretary-General's Envoy on Technology (OSET) at United Nations, and Mrs. Liu Meng, Head of the UN Global Compact Liasion Office in China, and other colleagues from UN visited Shanghai AI-Finance School at ECNU and its FinLLM Lab. Prof. Shao Yilei, Dean of Shanghai AI-Finance School at ECNU, Mrs. Rao Shengping, Deputy Director of Office of Science and Technology at ECNU, and Mrs. Tian Qingfang, Deputy Director of International Cooperation & Exchange Division at ECNU, attended and spoke at the meeting. The meeting was hosted by Prof. Tang Aocheng, Assistant to Dean of SAIFS.
Prof. Shao Yilei, Dean of SAIFS, introduced the school’s planning, research cooperation, and ECNU’s strategic initiative on“AI at ECNU”
First of all, Dean of Shanghai AI-Finance School at ECNU, Prof. Shao Yilei, introduced to the visitors that SAIFS is the world’s first education and research institution created at the intersection of artificial intelligence and finance. She emphasized that the school is committed to cultivating leading talents in AI-Finance with both financial knowledge, AI technology, and practical experience, and promoting the innovative application of AI in the financial field to advance the development of the AI-Fin industry.
Dean Shao focused on introducing the current progress in the planning of degree programs, construction of research centers, government-industry-academia-research cooperation, and the progress of practical application on AI-Fin innovation. In the meanwhile, she briefly introduced the initiative of “AI at ECNU”, and had an in-depth discussion with the UN’s colleagues on topics such as the prospects of applying technology in public finance, how to support the UN in promoting global AI capability building, especially in Southern countries, and how to better support the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
Mrs. Rao Shengping, Deputy Director of the Office of Science and Technology at ECNU, introduced the university’s work in the field of AI-Finance
Mrs. Rao Shengping, Deputy Director of the Office of Science and Technology at ECNU, elaborated on the university’s work in AI empowerment, interdisciplinary platform construction, and the field of artificial intelligence in finance, focusing on the five keywords: “Project, Institution, Discussion, Progress, and Challenge.”
Mrs. Tian Qingfang, Deputy Director of International Cooperation & Exchange Division at ECNU, introduced the school's international partners and the construction of EduChat platform
Mrs. Tian Qingfang, Deputy Director of the International Cooperation & Exchange Division at ECNU, introduced ECNU’s vision on international exchange, its global network of partnerships, and the construction of the EduChat platform. She mentioned that the university will adhere to the principles of cooperation, openness, and mutual benefit in the field of AI-Finance, engaging in deep collaboration with global partners to jointly promote the development of this field.
Dr. Mehdi Snène speaks during the meeting
During the discussion session, Dr. Mehdi Snène, a Senior Advisor on AI and Digital Transformation from the Office of the Secretary-General’s Envoy on Technology (OSET) at United Nations, spoke highly of the efforts of ECNU and SAIFS in promoting global cooperation and was deeply impressed bySAIFS’s interdisciplinary collaboration in teaching and research in the fields of AI-Finance.
He pointed out that in order to prevent the emergence of the artificial intelligence gap, the Office of the Secretary-General’s Envoy on Technology (OSET) at the United Nations, is actively promoting the establishment of a comprehensive AI capacity development network to support and enhance global AI capacity building worldwide. He emphasized that in the field of public finance, the integration of artificial intelligence and finance not only holds immense potential but also faces a series of challenges such as data security, algorithmic bias, and sustainability. Addressing these challenges requires global cooperation, including the broad participation of universities, research institutions, enterprises, and governments, to collectively accelerate the pace of AI development.
The visiting colleagues visited the FinLLM Lab
In the end, the UN colleagues visited the FinLLM Lab. Mr.Wang Junlin, an Assistant Researcher of SAIFS, introduced the school’s leading global large language model and AI agent “AI Jason”.Through the live demonstration, he vividly demonstrated AI Jason’s potential applications in areas such as green investment, green bonds, inclusive loans, and inclusive education.
Sources: Shanghai AI-Finance School, ECNU;
School of Economics and Management at ECNU
