Fudan University recently slashed its humanities enrollment to make more room for students in technology-focused programs, particularly engineering and artificial intelligence.  

Jin Li, Fudan University president, indicated that the engineering departments will be reorganized into six innovation colleges specializing in integrated circuits, intelligent robotics and advanced manufacturing. In a way, this is a response to market forces. There is rising demand for technology-versatile professionals who can supercharge the ongoing march toward new quality productive forces. However, to use technology for the benefit of the country and for mankind, we must uphold humanistic values, and humanistic values must guide the AI revolution.

Today, AI is the focus of attention in public debate. Many people are worried that it may put an end to a great number of jobs, from boring, routine tasks like cleaning factory assembly lines to roles which used to be favored by elite university graduates. Even artists, musicians, and designers are at risk. Generative AI can compose music, poetry, videos, and even imitate the style of great artists.  

Geoffrey Hinton, who is widely regarded as the godfather of AI, warned about the dangers that lie ahead in 2023 after he quit his job at Google. He said that he regretted his work. Given the fast-growing capability of AI through deep learning, humans will certainly lose out to AI in any competition that requires intelligent use of vast amounts of data. He told the BBC that some of the dangers of AI chatbots were “quite scary” because “bad actors” would try to use AI for “bad things”.

There is no need for Hinton to regret anything. AI, like all scientific discoveries and inventions, will come about one way or another. If it had not been Hinton, someone else would have done it.  

Hinton is certainly correct though. “Bad actors” with limited capabilities cannot cause significant damage. But “bad actors” with huge capabilities can.

Who are the “bad actors”? They are anyone who focuses solely on their own interests and are indifferent to others’ suffering, as well as to biodiversity and sustainable development. The most dangerous bad actors are those who are not only selfish but also powerful.

That is why we need to uphold humanistic values. If AI is used to help pursue humanistic values, the world will become peaceful, prosperous, and we will all have a better life. If humans use AI to pursue mutually incompatible ends, the world will be doomed. As humans’ capabilities grow, so do their responsibilities. This is why humanities courses should nurture the humanistic spirit. Many educators have stressed the need to be inventive and creative. However, we do not want to be creative or inventive just for the sake of it. We must use our creativity to build a better tomorrow while keeping a shared human destiny at heart.

For this reason, in my view, every student enrolled in a STEM course — science, technology, engineering, or mathematics — must also have an adequate background in the humanities. Exactly because of this, the arts have been added to create STEAM, and Lingnan University has opened a STEAM Education and Research Center. But what constitutes an adequate exposure to humanities education? And what are the arts? I would like to stress that the arts are all about the humanities and touching the soul of the student. Whether it is visual arts, music, sculpture, literature, calligraphy, the true artist attempts to touch the soul of readers, viewers, and listeners.    

In the preface to his novella The Children of the Sea, Joseph Conrad wrote that the role of the artist is no different from that of thinkers or scientists. He is pursuing the truth. Conrad believed truth is universal and it lies within each of us. There is a “subtle but invincible conviction of solidarity that knits together … innumerable hearts, to the solidarity in dreams, in joy, in sorrow, in aspiration, in illusions, in hope, in fear, which binds men to each other, which bonds together all humanity”. The problem with AI is that it lacks genuine human feelings.  

According to the late political scientist Joseph Nye, soft power is the ability to co-opt rather than coerce because soft power is based on an agenda that appeals to people. He said: “The best propaganda is not propaganda.” But only words and expressions that are based on true understanding can appeal to people across ethnic and cultural boundaries. Students in STEM subjects will be adequately exposed to the humanities when they have learnt to be humanistic.

Based on Nye’s analysis, China’s increasing soft power — as indicated by an impressive about-turn in its standing in the world as reported in the latest Democracy Perception Index — is understandable.

China has proposed various humanistic initiatives since 2013: the Belt and Road Initiative, the Global Development Initiative, the Global Security Initiative, and the Global Civilization Initiative. All these initiatives serve to unite humanity, not to divide it. Recently I learnt that, back in 2013, China actually invited the United States to work together to lead the Belt and Road Initiative. How wonderful the world would have been, if the world’s largest two nations had worked together to promote the humanistic cause.

The author is a former director of the Pan Sutong Shanghai-Hong Kong Economic Policy Research Institute, Lingnan University, and an adjunct professor at the Education University of Hong Kong.

The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.