Professor Yann LeCun reminded Vietnamese students to master Math and Physics knowledge and participate in source code projects to overcome technology barriers.
The sharing was given at the conference “The Future of AI” organized by VinFuture Foundation on December 5 at the University of Natural Sciences, Hanoi National University. The program is one of a series of thematic seminars within the framework of Science and Technology Week and the VinFuture 2024 awards ceremony, where scientists bring many scientific stories to inspire students and young researchers.
In the 90-minute presentation, Professor Yann LeCun said that the future of AI is to reach “human level” through self-supervised learning from real-world data. He also introduced the JEPA (Joint Embedding Predictive Architecture) model, a new approach that helps AI predict more abstractly.
“AI is not only a technology support tool but also a foundation to help solve many social and economic challenges,” he shared.
Professor Yann LeCun, Research Director of Meta AI Research was born in 1960 in France and is one of the pioneers of deep learning and convolutional neural networks (CNN). He developed LeNet, the first CNN model used for handwriting recognition, in the 1990s. CNN became an important tool in the fields of computer vision and image processing, serving as the foundation of many products and services deployed by large companies such as Facebook, Google, Microsoft, Baidu, IBM, NEC, AT&T in video, document, photo, and voice recognition.
Professor Yann LeCun shares about AI at the University of Natural Sciences. Image: Vinfuture
During the exchange session, Professor LeCun answered many questions from the audience and gave a lot of advice. He encouraged Vietnamese students to master knowledge of Mathematics and Physics, and at the same time, participate in open source projects to overcome technology barriers. “Any economic sector that takes advantage of technological innovations will create breakthroughs,” he emphasized.
Besides Professor. LeCun, the conference also had the participation of Vietnamese experts such as Prof. Ho Tu Bao and Dr. Nguyen Xuan Phong, brings an in-depth perspective on AI applications in practice, from industry to education.
VinFuture Science Week is not only a place to share knowledge but also a bridge between outstanding global minds and the Vietnamese scientific community. The same afternoon, at Hanoi University of Science and Technology, hundreds of students, lecturers and scientists listened to Professor’s sharing. Susan Solomon and Professor. Nguyen Thuc Quyen at the conference “Women scientists for a future of sustainable energy and green environment”.
Professor. Susan Solomon is an Environmental and Chemistry research expert, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and a member of the VinFuture Award Council. She told about her journey to research the ozone layer, the “living shield” of the earth. In 1986, the female professor was the only female scientist to lead the Antarctic expedition, where she elucidated the mechanism causing the hole in the ozone layer due to CFC compounds. This discovery led to the 1987 Montreal Protocol, which globally banned the production and use of CFCs.
Professor. Susan Solomon shares her own research story. Image: Vinfuture
“This is living proof that science can light the way, not only shaping policy, but also raising public awareness,” she shared. According to the professor, public awareness plays an important role in promoting collective action, such as Americans reducing the use of CFCs since the 1970s before the Protocol was even born. “Individual acts of consumption can sometimes change the world.”
Professor. Nguyen Thuc Quyen is Director of the Center for Polymers and Organic Solids, California Nanosystems Institute (CNSI) at the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB), Co-Chair of the VinFuture Preliminary Council, and a prominent Vietnamese scientist. reputation in the field of sustainable energy. She brings the story of the journey of a poor girl living in a village without electricity in Vietnam who gradually rose to become a leading researcher in the US.
“When I was a child, I dreamed of storing sunlight in a bottle to use as a study lamp at night. Many years later, I turned that dream into reality with research into organic solar cells,” she recounted. .
Professor. Nguyen Thuc Quyen recounts her journey to rise in research in the US. Image: Vinfuture
The female professor is leading research on organic semiconductors, a potential technology in the field of renewable energy. According to her, with rich natural resources such as a long coastline and many hours of sunshine, Vietnam can completely become a pioneer in renewable energy development.
Besides inspiration, Professor. Quyen also advises the younger generation to focus on practicing and cultivating teamwork skills to solve complex problems.