Event highlight | CUPress x InnoPort x Morningside College: The book talk of Future Needs Wisdom by Prof. Helga Nowotny (13 Jan 2025)

On 13 Jan 2025, CUPress x InnoPort x Morningside College co-hosted the event of the book talk of  Future Needs Wisdom by Prof. Helga Nowotny at UGA, InnoPort. The event was a resounding success, attracting a full audience and providing an inspiring session for aspiring scientists and academics, particularly women looking to carve out their careers in science. Attendees, including professors, students, alumni from CUHK gained valuable insights on resilience and leadership from Professor Nowotny’s extensive experiences.   

The event adopted real-time speech-to-text  translation services from Centre for Perceptual and Interactive Intelligence (CPII). The CPII AI Meeting Assistant system can recognize speakers’ voice in Cantonese, Mandarin or English in real time and support simultaneous machine translation, which not only greatly enhanced the experience for audience, but also  

illustrated the transformative potential of AI technologies in research and academia, echoing themes from Prof. Helga Nowotny’s publication,  In AI We Trust 《未來的錯覺–人類如何與AI共處》. 

Professor Helga Nowotny, a prominent figure in science and technology studies and former President of the European Research Council, delivered a book talk about focusing on her memoir,  Future Needs Wisdom, which details her journey as a female scientist in a predominantly male academic landscape. 

During Q&A session, Professor Nick Rawlins, Master of Morningside College, joined Professor Helga Nowotny to share insights of extensive work in promoting inclusivity in research. During the talk, Prof. Nowotny shared personal anecdotes about the challenges she faced throughout her career and how her steadfast belief in herself enabled her to navigate these obstacles. She discussed her unconventional career path, emphasizing the importance of pursuing one’s passions despite societal expectations. She encouraged the audience to rethink what we call a smart future and emphasized – “True wisdom lies in learning to live with contradictions and embrace uncertainty”. 

The event concluded with a highly successful book signing session that received an enthusiastic response. 

Photo: (from left to right) Dr. Gerhard ZETTL  (The Austrian Consulate General that Consul General), Professor Nick Rawlins(Pro-Vice-Chancellor / Vice-President (Student Experience) ,Master of Morningside College), Professor Anthony T.C. Chan(Pro-Vice-Chancellor / Vice-President (Alumni Relations & Advancement)), Prof. Helga Nowotny, Professor Alan K.L. Chan , student  MC from Morningside College, Professor Fanny M. Cheung  (Honorary Senior Advisor to the Hong Kong Institute of Asia-Pacific Studies at  CUHK). 

Photo: Professor Anthony T.C. Chan, Pro-Vice-Chancellor / Vice-President (Alumni Relations & Advancement) delivered the opening remarks. 

Photo: Professor Nick Rawlins, Pro-Vice-Chancellor / Vice-President (Student Experience), Master of Morningside College. 

Photo: Prof. Helga Nowotny.

Photo: Student Q&A session. 

Photo: Q&A session by Prof. Helga Nowotny and Professor Nick Rawlins. 

Photo: The CPII AI Meeting Assistant system  provided  real-time speech-to-text  translation service  on the presentation screen. 

Photo: Book signing session. 

Photo: Group photo of CUPress, InnoPort Team and Morningside College.