Opinion | To become an AI hub, Hong Kong should start by preparing workers

Name: How a Hong Kong school embraces ChatGPT in the classroom
Uploaded: 2024-04-26T08:30:19.000Z
Duration: 8 min 15 s
Description: How a Hong Kong school embraces ChatGPT in the classroom

Hong Kong is committing billions to developing AI. But for the city to realise its ambitions, employers must do more to train workers and assuage concerns about safe use and job security

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Office workers walk during lunch hour in Hong Kong’s Central district in 2023. While many workers in Hong Kong are embracing AI, they need training and a better understanding of the technology. Photo: Bloomberg

Ben Simpfendorfer

Published: 4:30pm, 26 Apr 2024

Hong Kong could become an AI capital. Many artificial intelligence firms from mainland China are interested in locating their headquarters here, where they hope to gain greater access to international data and information.

Already, Hong Kong’s workforce is embracing the technology. Eighty-four per cent of Hong Kong employees say they use some form of AI on the job, including 61 per cent who say it has improved their productivity, according to a global survey of more than 25,000 employees conducted in November by the Oliver Wyman Forum. Hong Kong’s usage is above the global average of 80 per cent and is roughly the same as Singapore’s.

Hong Kong is committed to developing AI. In February, the government announced that it is allocating HK$3 billion (US$383 million) for supporting universities, research institutions and businesses to tap the massive processing power of the city’s AI Supercomputing Centre. Meanwhile, the recently created Office for Attracting Strategic Enterprises is reaching out to companies, including mainland AI firms.

But if Hong Kong is to become China’s AI hub and a global leader, employers must do more to train workers, assuage their concerns about using AI safely, and address its potential impact on jobs.

Most Hong Kong employees are already embracing AI, but they need training and reskilling.

08:15

How a Hong Kong school embraces ChatGPT in the classroom

Cybersecurity concerns and mistrust are reported by non-AI users in Hong Kong at higher rates than any other surveyed market. More than a third of Hong Kong workers, for example, say they do not use AI because AI tools have given them incorrect information in the past.

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.css-1mniedq{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;}Hong Kong is committing billions to developing AI. But for the city to realise its ambitions, employers must do more to train workers and assuage concerns about safe use and job security

Hong Kong is committing billions to developing AI. But for the city to realise its ambitions, employers must do more to train workers and assuage concerns about safe use and job security