The new Deputy Minister of Digital Affairs has been set: Hou Yihsiu, Secretary-General of the Taiwan AI Academy.
The Executive Yuan officially announced the cabinet reshuffle list yesterday (8/27), with 16 members experiencing changes. The Taiwan AI Academy confirmed that its Secretary-General Hou Yihsiu will take over the position of Deputy Minister of Digital Affairs.
After the recent cabinet reshuffle, the Minister of Digital Affairs has been promoted from the current Deputy Minister Lin Yiching, while the Deputy Minister position has been taken over by Hou Yihsiu.
(Central News Agency) reports that the government hopes to leverage her industry connections and her professional background in artificial intelligence to assist the Ministry of Digital Affairs in promoting relevant business.
Image source: Taiwan AI Academy Foundation
Who is Hou Yihsiu? From lawyer to promoter of Taiwan's AI industry.
Hou Yihsiu comes from a legal background and stepped into the tech field 25 years ago by participating in open-source communities. In media interviews, she often introduces herself with keywords like 'lawyer,' 'open-source community participant,' 'mother of three,' and 'AI.'
She once stated that although she has a social science background, she has been working at the intersection of technology and law since 2000, developing expertise in explaining laws to non-lawyers and technology to non-technologists.
Hou Yihsiu established a law firm and served as the lead attorney, while also holding multiple advisory positions in public sector civil consultations, including as a civil committee member of the Legislative Yuan's Open Parliament Committee and an advisory committee member for the Executive Yuan's Smart Nation Promotion Group.
Hou Yihsiu also assisted in establishing the nonprofit organization Taiwan AI Academy Foundation, where she currently serves as Secretary-General, dedicated to promoting the accessibility and popularization of artificial intelligence.
As of 2024, the Taiwan AI Academy Foundation has trained over 10,000 alumni, spanning 15 major industries, and has deepened collaborations with over 2,100 companies, including TSMC and AUO.
Image source: Taiwan AI Academy Foundation
What does Hou Yihsiu think about AI? Previously revealed her focus on responsible development.
According to reports from (Female Technology Newsletter), Hou Yihsiu emphasized the importance of 'responsible AI development' and 'responsible AI literacy' during a speech in March this year, stating that AI development should align with sustainable development and human autonomy principles.
Hou Yihsiu distinguished between two concepts: 'AI cybersecurity' and 'AI safety.' The former focuses on protecting AI systems from cyber threats and malicious attacks, while the latter has a broader scope, ensuring that AI operates in a beneficial way that does not cause harm.
She mentioned that the key to AI safety is 'value alignment,' which is how to ensure that artificial intelligence robustly serves humanitarian values.
In response to the potential risks posed by AI, Hou Yihsiu proposed Taiwan's strategies, including developing transparent and verifiable assessment mechanisms, establishing datasets from a Taiwanese perspective for global use, supplementing computational power development with mental effort to correct Chinese open-source models, and continuously engaging in feedback and rapid iterative revisions.
She believes that tools themselves are neither good nor bad, but when value judgments fail to keep pace with the speed of technological development, it becomes easy to lose control. Therefore, technical education and ethical value thinking are equally important.
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The article 'The new Deputy Minister of Digital Affairs is announced! Taiwan AI Academy Secretary-General Hou Yihsiu will take office, what contributions will she make to the industry' was first published in 'Cryptocurrency City.'
