Ageing well with AI

Artificial intelligence (AI) has done a remarkable job of making our lives easier – think smart assistants, manufacturing robots, website chat tools and so on. It has become part of our daily lives that we often forget how it makes our lives better. If you have ever worried about the hazards of growing old, you might thank AI luminaries like Professor Miao Chunyan for harnessing technology to help our twilight years pass in greater comfort.

“The possibilities of AI agents have always intrigued me,” Prof Miao says. So much so that she persisted in her goal to do her PhD research on cognitive agents such as the simulation of human thought processes in computer models despite AI being in its relative infancy in the early 2000s. “I was convinced of the great potential impact of AI in many application areas. I spend a lot of time studying humanised AI so as to discover how we can inject human-like traits such as curiosity and empathy into the interactions between humans and machines.”

Today, Prof Miao is a world authority on human-centred AI and is well-known for her impactful AI research in health, ageing, education and digital industry. The ageing-in-place platforms and AI wellness games she developed for those suffering from chronic diseases have benefitted over 10,000 senior citizens so far. Now, Prof Miao is busy working on ways to alleviate the burden of neurodegenerative diseases, frailty and caregiving.

She is the President’s Chair Professor and Chair at the School of Computer Science and Engineering (SCSE) at NTU, and her contributions to the field of AI – particularly in the development of elder care – are innumerable. She founded Singapore’s first university-based centre for AI-empowered solutions for challenges relating to ageing populations, the Joint NTU-UBC Research Centre of Excellence in Active Living for the Elderly (LILY).

Prof Miao has put Singapore on the global AI map after leading the effort to establish the Alibaba-NTU Singapore Joint Research Institute, where she currently also serves as Founding Director. She was named in the inaugural “Singapore 100 Women in Tech” by the Infocomm Media Development Authority and Singapore Computer Society (SCS), and “Professional of the Year” at the SCS IT Leaders Awards 2020.

Prof Miao says: “There is a great need for female role models to convince young women that STEM can indeed be a rewarding career, like two-time Nobel prize winner Marie Curie or Roberta Bondar, the first neurologist in space.”

She believes that “the best way to encourage more female participation in the technology sector is to ensure that there are no systemic barriers to career progression”.

Click here to read about other Nanyang Alumni Award recipients.

This article first appeared in the first issue of U, the NTU alumni magazine.