SJTU President Urges Universities to Use AI as Research Tool

Shanghai Jiao Tong University President Ding Kuiling told lawmakers Friday that Chinese universities must integrate artificial intelligence directly into how they conduct research, not merely study it as a field, as he called for expanded computing infrastructure and stronger international ties.

Speaking at the open session of the Shanghai delegation to the 14th National People's Congress, Ding said the scale of AI's impact on academic work is already visible. Research that once took ten years can now be completed in one. Projects once requiring hundreds of contributors can be handled by a single person. Work once reserved for senior academics is increasingly accessible to small teams of young researchers.

"Artificial intelligence has become an accelerator and amplifier of innovation," Ding said, according to Shangguan News.

SJTU introduced a ten-point institutional reform package last year – referred to internally as the "AI Ten Points" – covering teaching, research and university governance. Ding said the initiative has already produced practical results, including large models capable of addressing certain rare diseases and modifying protein functions in synthetic biology applications.

He called on the government to substantially increase investment in AI infrastructure and make computing resources available to universities at accessible cost, arguing that broader access would allow unconventional research ideas to advance.

Ding also pushed back against the notion that international uncertainty justifies pulling back from global collaboration. The opposite is true, he said. He recommended that China establish international big-science programs, build globally oriented technology transfer centers and develop open-source community platforms to maintain cross-border research links.

"The more turbulent the international environment, the more we need to keep the door open," Ding said.