2024 China-U.S. Youth Leadership Summit: AI vs Future Education

Dr. Hong LI, Chairperson of the China-US Youth Leadership Summit, and Dr. John Rutledge, Co-Chair of the China-US Leadership Development Foundation, have maintained an 18-year friendship and have jointly contributed to the China-US cause in diverse ways. The two posed for a commemorative photo.

(Special Thanks: The high fashion attire for the conference chairperson was specially customized by NON THINKING Workshop)

The keynote speaker from the Chinese side was Lu ZHANG, Founding Partner of Fusion Fund and a renowned young investor, with the topic titled "AI and the Future of the New Economic Landscape."

In her speech, Lu ZHANG noted that while AI has existed for many years, its development has significantly accelerated over the past two years. This acceleration, particularly driven by the COVID-19 pandemic, has led various industries to adopt digital platforms, laying a foundation for the widespread application of AI. Lu ZHANG stated, "In the past two years, AI has become more than just a hot topic in the technology sector; traditional industries such as healthcare, insurance, finance, and logistics are also actively developing data strategies to integrate AI technology into their businesses. These industries possess a wealth of high-quality data, making them ideal for AI applications."

In addition, she mentioned that with the advancement of technology, no-code platforms for AI tools have become a reality. This means that users can use AI tools without needing to write or understand code. She encouraged everyone, especially the younger generation, to actively leverage AI technology to enhance their capabilities and achieve greater goals in the next decade.

Miss Lu ZHANG, Founding Partner of Fusion Fund, delivered a keynote speech titled "AI and the Future New Economic Landscape."

As a distinguished young representative, Lu ZHANG is a founding partner of Fusion Fund and a renowned investor in Silicon Valley. She has been honored with titles such as “Industry Leader” on the "2022 Forbes China - Top 100 Global Outstanding Chinese", “Global Young Leader” by the World Economic Forum in 2018, “Influential Woman” by Silicon Valley Business Weekly in 2018, “Top Ten Outstanding Young Chinese Americans” in 2018, and included in Forbes America's 30 Under 30 list in 2017, among other accolades.

In the "Discussing AI Leadership" dialogue segment, Dr. John Rutledge, Co-Chair of the China-US Leadership Development Foundation, observed that artificial intelligence has taken a significant step forward from the information theory invented by Shannon in the 1940s. AI presents both opportunities and risks. It is a tool that can greatly enhance efficiency in the information age, with its impact depending on how it is utilized by humans. AI has facilitated cross-language communication and improved human interactions. For a better future, education and communication are paramount. Dr. John expressed his hope that despite the historical and ideological differences between China and the U.S., the two nations will find ways to cooperate and entrust the future to the younger generation.

The theme dialogue session at the conference, from left to right: Ms. Wei ZHOU, Dr. John Rutledge, Ms. Lu ZHANG, and Dr. Hong LI.

Dr. Hong LI, the Chair of the Summit, discussed AI leadership and pointed out that leadership has distinctive characteristics of its era. Taking Chinese entrepreneurs as an example, the first-generation internet entrepreneurs, represented by Jack MA of Alibaba and Robin LI of Baidu, who are from the 60s and 70s, each have their own industry specialties and unique leadership characteristics of the e-era. During this period, they were each focused on their own sectors. In contrast, the second-generation internet entrepreneurs from the 80s and 90s, represented by Cheng WEI of Didi and Yiming ZHANG of Toutiao, use technology to become behind-the-scenes players, with features of direct disruptive innovation or industry monopoly without dividing the cake. AI, with its characteristics of big data, large models, algorithms, credit locking, and non-replicability, will promote the integration of technology and wisdom in leadership, as it permeates through the entire industry chain, all business forms, and all ecosystems.

Lu ZHANG, Founder and Partner of Fusion Fund, expressed similar views. She noted that artificial intelligence can both better connect and isolate people. As a tool, AI is neutral; how it will change the future depends not only on the technology itself but also on the people using it. One must have the right mindset to make correct decisions and not be controlled by technological tools. Therefore, regulation on the use of AI technology is necessary. Future leaders should have access to the latest information and technology, quickly understand how to adapt to these changes, and leverage AI's trend towards company flattening to create new opportunities. The true value of future leaders will be to use AI technology to enhance company efficiency and pursue returns, rather than focusing on scale as in the past.

Moderator of the "AI Leadership" Panel Discussion: Ms. Wei ZHOU (second from the right)

Panelists: From left to right: Ms. Lu ZHANG (first from the left), Dr. John RATLIFF (second from the left), Dr. Hong LI (first from the right)

In this segment, the guest moderator was Ms. Wei ZHOU, co-founder and founding designer of Click Therapeutics, and a sponsor of the China-US Leadership Development Foundation. Ms. ZHOU focuses on AI education, personal leadership development research, and the application of AI in healthcare. She has innovatively designed and published a series of language learning materials and has long been dedicated to education and public welfare. Ms. ZHOU guided the three industry leaders in expressing their insightful viewpoints with her elegant and composed manner, logical structure, and layered approach.

In the second thematic discussion, "AI and Future Education," the guest moderator, Qian QIYAN, leveraged her profound understanding of AI technology and extensive research in the field of education to design a series of cutting-edge and thought-provoking questions. She led the participants in exploring how AI can reshape the education ecosystem, enhance teaching quality, and address the challenges and opportunities ahead. Her questions showcased her deep professional knowledge, unique bilingual hosting skills, and insightful foresight into the future of education.

Regarding the topic of "AI and Future Education," Ms. Runxin CAO, co-founder of WM Overseas Business IP Training & Incubation Institute, pointed out during the discussion that AI can achieve educational equity by providing customized one-on-one education, serving as a low-cost educational support tool. Future opportunities in AI education are expected to appear in the direction of creating customized education platforms, offering refined and specialized subject tutoring, and utilizing VR/AR technology to simulate experiments in virtual reality.

The theme dialogue segment two at the conference. From left to right: Ms. Qian QIYAN, Mr. Chris PEREIRA, Ms. Yingyan ZHENG, and Ms. Runxin CAO.

Ms. Yingyan ZHENG, who was described by guest host Qian QIYAN as the most “interdisciplinary AI person,” previously served as a CCTV host for 18 years. She shared her views on AI in education through her public welfare project, “Mei Sound Audio Library.” She believes AI technology will drive educational equity and, from the perspective of "teaching," alleviate teachers' burdens such as grading assignments, enabling a future education model of “Teacher—AI assistant—Student” integration. However, she emphasized that AI will never replace the teaching profession because AI lacks ethics, moral responsibility, and values. Her advice is, “AI is advancing, but humans will always be a step ahead.” Future education should focus on developing technological and data literacy, critical thinking, innovation abilities, and the use of AI to build self-discovery skills and interdisciplinary learning. Emphasis should be placed on human-to-human and human-to-machine collaboration.

Chris PEREIRA, founder and CEO of Meixun, who has studied and worked in China for over 20 years, inquired how many people use ChatGPT, and over 80% raised their hands. He believes that the future should return to the basics: building human friendships, drinking more coffee, and making more friends, and approaching the future from a humanistic perspective.

In the final segment of the summit, a press conference for the documentary“Documentary of Women's Outdoor Exploration in Europe: A Heartfelt Pursuit x Mont Blanc” was held. The segment was hosted by summit chair Dr. Hong LI. When asked about the motivation behind the documentary, Ke KE, a French producer and director of “The Wandering Earth 2,” explained that the documentary aims to promote the positive “heroine” spirit of women through the portrayal of several outdoor enthusiasts on a hiking journey in the European Alps.

Theme Dialogue Session Three at the conference:

Guests from left to right: Dr. Hong LI, Executive Producer Ke KE, Director Hanzhang SHEN, and one of the main stars Zirong HUANG.

Director Hanzhang SHEN's debut film <Why Am I Still Alive> won the Best Documentary Award at the East Coast College Student Oscars. At the press conference, Hanzhang SHEN mentioned that although she would not appear on screen, she would play a behind-the-scenes role by documenting the hiking journey of the other stars around Mont Blanc, sharing her own story, expressing her connection with the world, and exploring the process of women finding meaning in life.

Producer Ke KE added that all selected "Leading Ladies" must pass an assessment, have a certain level of outdoor sports experience, and be able to complete a two-month intensive training. Notably, well-known Chinese track and field athlete Yanni WU will serve as an off-screen coach for the documentary and will participate in the filming alongside the "Leading Ladies."

Ke KE, French Producer & Director of The Wandering Earth 2, and Executive Producer of the documentary “From the Heart x Mont Blanc”.

Ms. An Qi, the Summit Emcee 

The Summit was hosted by Ms. An Qi, a Harvard Business School graduate and founder of the women’ s leadership organization ACE Women’ s Collective. The first dialogue session was moderated by Wei ZHOU, the founding partner of CULDF in New York, while the second dialogue session was moderated by Yanqiang QI, a pioneer in introducing Cambridge English to China and an innovator in AI education. The moderators used their profound expertise to draw out the wisdom of the guests, making the Summit a vivid exploration of ideas, the future, and AI connections.

The final segment of the Summit featured Dr. Hong LI presenting the"Permanent Honorary Chairman Certificate" from the China-US Leadership Development Foundation to Dr. John Rutledge, former economic advisor to the US President. Dr. Hong LI and Dr. John LATRICH, who have shared an 18-year-long friendship across the United States and China, have both devotedly contributed to the China-US relations & communications, establishing the foundation for the Summit’ s theme of "China-US Peace and Friendly Development."

Dr. Hong LI, the Chairman of the China-US Youth Leadership Summit, awarded Dr. John Rutledge the Permanent Honorary Chairman Certificate from the China-US Leadership Development Foundation.

After the ceremony, Dr. Hong LI told Dr. John Rutledge: "The Foundation is our shared platform, and promoting China-US relations and friendly exchanges & cooperation is our enduring mission."