On the morning of July 7th, the Forum “Embrace Large Models and Empower New Finance”, as part of the World Artificial Intelligence Conference 2023 (WAIC 2023), was held in Shanghai. As one of the important main forums of the WAIC 2023, it was organized by the Xuhui District Government and guided by Shanghai Lixin University of Accounting and Finance (SLU), co-hosted by SLU’s Smart Finance Research Center and the Xuhui District Financial Service Management Office, and organized by the Zhongzheng Daguang Fund and China Securities CreditTech Services. The forumfocusedondiscussions over large model technologies and their latest application in the financial field.
Yang Li, Vice Chair of the SLU University Council and President of SLU, stated in his speech that finance is the ideal industry for the implementation of large model technologies, which will have a profound impact on the intelligence and digitization of the financial industry, and that during this period of technological transformation, it is important to carefully assess potential risks and challenges while exploring the integration of large model technologies with finance and their innovation and application in finance. SLU, with a history of 95 years as a university of economics and finance, has been closely following the revolutionary impact of new technologies such as AI on the financial industry and education. It has established a number of new programmes, including fintech (the first in China to do so), digital finance, digital economy, and intelligent science and technology. It now has multiple research institutions including the Yangtze River Delta Center for Collaborative Innovation of Financial Services in theScientific Innovation Industry, Shanghai Fintech Research Center, and Intelligent Finance Research Center. It will further integrate resources, and build interdisciplinary research on AI technologies and their innovative integration with the financial industry, to make greater progress in scientific research, talent development and social services in the field of intelligent finance.
At the forum, the Xuhui District Financial Service Management Office and the SLU Intelligent Finance Research Center signed a framework agreement on strategic cooperation, to further enhance cooperation between the government and SLU in intelligent finance.
Professor Ye Yinyu, a tenured professor at Stanford University and winner of the John von Neumann Theory Prize, first extended his congratulations on the kick-off of the forum. He believes that ChatGPT combines large language models with reinforcement learning, ultimately leading to resolution of optimization problems. For vertical large models in the financial industry, professional data training and optimization algorithms need to be combined. ChatGPT represents the perfect combination and practical application of data, computing power and algorithms in engineering, but may incur the risk of homogenization.Various large models are emerging across China, especially in vertical fields such as finance, leading to diverse innovations in society.
Professor Hu Naijing, Dean of SLU’s School of Information Management, delivered a presentation - “Reshaping Fintech with Large Financial Models”, saying that large financial models and their AI application would reshape fintech on multiple dimensions that include technological architecture, business models, data risks and occupational capabilities, to drive fintech into the 2.0 era.
Professor He Ping, Deputy Dean of the School of Economics and Management at Tsinghua University, gave a presentation - Financial Innovation in the Digital Economy - introducing possible application of large models and the issues relating to data governance, scenario innovation, transparency and ethics that need to be addressed in their application.
Dr. Dou Yifan, Deputy Director of the Information Management and Business Intelligence Department at Fudan University who had been awarded the Excellent Young Scientists Fund, presented a report on “Solving the Conundrum in Data Element Circulation: A Perspective based on Computability”, where he explored the application of large models from a big data perspective.
Dr. Yang Lin, Chief Advisor/Architect at Microsoft China, presented a report on “Sharing Examples of Large Models Applied in the Financial Industry”, introducing Microsoft’s large model solutions and examples of their application in the financial industry.
Dr. Ji Daqi, Chief Technology Officer at Data Grand, made a presentation on “The Application of Data Grand’s Large Language Models in Financial Intelligence”, where he introduced the vertical and specialized large language model known as Cao Zhi that the company had developed and its application in the financial vertical field.
Liu Yang, TMT Research Director and Chief Analyst at Shenwan Hongyuan Securities Research Institute presented a report on “Exploration of Digital EconomyandSmall and Large Models”, where he analyzed the advantages and limitations of large models and compared the AIGC large models and critical scenarios in China and the United States.
Dr. Shan Haijun, Deputy Dean of GienTech Research Institute, presented a report on “The Development of Large Models and Their Impact on the Industry”, where he proposed the application of large models in code development, intelligent investment consulting, regulation and compliance across the financial industry from the perspective of the core characteristics and emergence mechanisms of large models.
Fu Binliang, Deputy Director of the Xuhui District Financial Service Management Office, delivered a presentation on “The Construction of a Scientific Innovation and Financial Zone for Demonstration Purposes in Xuhui District”, introducing scientific innovation and finance in Xuhui District from the perspectives of advantages, goals, and policies.
The roundtable discussion was hosted by Associate Professor Xu Xin, Director of SLU’s Smart Finance Research Center. Chief Information Officer of Guotai Junan Securities Dr. Yu Feng, Deputy Director of the Information Management and Business Intelligence Department at Fudan UniversityProfessorDou Yifan, Deputy Dean of the Institute of Fintech of Shanghai University of Finance and Economics Professor Liu Jianguo, Chief Advisor/Architect at Microsoft China Dr. Yang Lin, Deputy General Manager of Zhongzheng Daguang Fun Dr. Xia Yi, and Chief Technology Officer of China Securities CreditTech Services Huang Jia, jointly discussed the trends in large model technologies and their application, and presented valuable insights.
The forum brought together participants from universities, the government and the business community to discuss the innovative integration of large model technologies and finance. It had a large presence of elites, including renowned scholars and experts from China and abroad, senior industry professionals, and government officials, who discussed the innovative and transformational integration of large model technologies with finance, facilitating interaction and communication among universities, the government and the business community.
(Photo: Xu Xin)
