Ban Ki-moon and Eric Horvitz... Korea University Special Lecture on Climate Change and AI

Korea University hosted a special lecture on the 19th, inviting former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Eric Horvitz, Chief Scientific Officer (CSO) of Microsoft (MS), who is known as an 'Artificial Intelligence (AI) Guru.'

Former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. [Photo by Korea University]

Former Secretary-General Ban delivered a lecture at 5 p.m. on the theme of 'Climate Crisis and Carbon Neutrality,' discussing the severity of climate change and future response directions. During his tenure as UN Secretary-General in 2015, Ban contributed to the conclusion of the Paris Agreement on climate change, which called for the gradual reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. Starting his lecture by saying, "The Paris Agreement is one of the things I am proud of in my life," Ban stated, "The most important thing in the world is the climate. At this rate, both the Earth and we will perish." He continued, "Climate change is humanity's fault," adding, "If we do not continue to make efforts, the sixth mass extinction will occur within 100 years, killing 70% of humans and animals."

Ban evaluated nuclear power as "the cleanest energy." This is because the greenhouse gas emissions from nuclear power are 10g per 1kWh, which is even lower than solar energy, a renewable energy source, at 57g. He emphasized the necessity of nuclear power in responding to climate change, saying, "Nuclear power plants were shut down because they are clean but deadly." Ban urged students to "have a mindset to practice first for clean air and a clean society."

Eric Horvitz, Chief Scientific Officer at Microsoft.
Photo by Korea University

Before Ban's lecture, at 1 p.m. that day, CSO Horvitz emphasized the need to create an era where humans and machines cooperate, based on cases of AI technology application in medicine. Horvitz leads strategies connecting AI with medicine and life sciences at MS. He is recognized as a global AI expert pioneering AI mechanisms. He opened by saying, "AI can solve problems humans face through various engineering applications," and "In the future, AI will expand through human-machine interaction." Presenting examples of AI model use in the medical field, he mentioned the need for ethical awareness when using AI, stating, "Even when AI accuracy reaches 98%, medical staff must always remain vigilant to provide better medical services and safety."

CSO Horvitz also presented approaches to recently spotlighted generative AI models such as ChatGPT. He said, "When talking about AI use, people usually focus only on problems that new technology cannot solve. However, looking at the newly applied technology in ChatGPT, it has remarkably advanced," urging students to take an interest in technological development by saying, "Instead of criticizing the system, efforts are needed to identify where it failed."