Asian universities push for ethical standards as the race to develop AI hots up

By Brendan O’Malley – Managing Editor. In Features, Yojana Sharma says universities in China and elsewhere in Asia are belatedly joining global alliances to promote ethical practices in artificial intelligence or AI, as these countries invest heavily in research and development in the race for AI.
   Also in Features, Jan Petter Myklebust reports on a heated debate ignited when a Swedish lecturer blogged that the policy requirement that 40% of recommended literature should be women authors made it difficult to run a university course on fascism and totalitarianism. And Wagdy Sawahel looks at the growing incidence of violent physical assaults by university students on academic staff in Algeria and its impact on universities.
   In Commentary, Simon Marginson argues the case for liberal arts and science university education to be scaled up and says the ideal structure is for liberal arts and science first degrees to operate as foundational to professional programmes. Deren Temel says Japanese universities are not adequately preparing international students for success in Japanese society despite high demand for international hires, focusing in particular on Vietnamese students. And Ross VeLure Roholt, Jennifer Catalano, Robert Hollister and Alexander Fink urge universities and funders to explore the concept of ‘transformative entrepreneurship’ as this disruptive approach has much to teach higher education.
   In our World Blog, Budd L Hall and Rajesh Tandon explain why more community-based participatory researchers are needed to help achieve the ambitious United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
   In Student View, Makomborero Haruzivishe says students in Zimbabwe should not celebrate prematurely because of the resignation of President Robert Mugabe as much change is needed in higher education. And Helge Schwitters of the European Students’ Union warns that students need to be included in the current EU discussions on deeper cooperation and mobility in higher education.
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