The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) is looking towards the potential of new technologies such as ChatGPT (Chat Generative Pre-trained Transformer) in its aims of becoming an international technology and innovation center, Secretary for Innovation Technology and Industry Sun Dong said on Tuesday. At a town hall meeting held at Cyberport, Sun said that in order to create a technology hub, there are three key pillars – computing power, data and talent – and the HKSAR plans to secure access to the most comprehensive data available in the world.
ChatGPT, created by OpenAI – a United States-based artificial intelligence research laboratory – is a large language model capable of generating a range of human-like responses to different types of inputs, including language translation and content development. In March, Secretary Sun Dong announced plans of establishing an AI supercomputing center in Hong Kong that would give rise to the development of ChatGPT-style models. A public consultation exercise is expected to be launched this year to gather feedback related to the plan.
Acting Government Chief Information Officer Tony Wong Chi-kwong also commented at the town hall meeting, warning of the potential risks that ChatGPT brings such as misinformation, bias and data leakage. Wong believes that the HKSAR Government should introduce AI-related regulations in order to protect privacy and still allow for technological advancement in the region.
While OpenAI is at the forefront of the AI technological revolution, Sun Dong believes that the HKSAR should likewise be able to keep up with the ongoing advances. He believes that by strategically capitalizing on opportunities such as ChatGPT, the city can further thrive and do its part in furthering innovation, technology, and industry.
