On May 25, 2024, the Third Zhejiang Young Scientists Open Day was unveiled at Zhejiang Lab (ZJ Lab) to celebrate China's 8th National Science and Technology Workers Day which falls on May 30. Under the theme of "Embarking Together on a Journey of Future Exploration", more than 30 young scientists and representatives of research institutions and technology-based enterprises from the United Kingdom, Spain, Germany, Belgium and China exchanged views on topics such as "AI+" and "cultivation of innovative talents" to quest for the ways to innovate and the beauty of science.

Guided by the Zhejiang Association for Science and Technology, Zhejiang Lab, Westlake University, China Academy of Art, and co-sponsored by the Zhejiang Association of Young Professionals and Secretariat of the World Young Scientist Summit, the event contains three sections, namely "Light of Science Forum", "Dialogue on the Question of Science" and "Beauty of Science Exhibitions", including the "Miaoju Qingke" (a hub for young scientific minds) lecturing session, Youth Innovation and China-Europe Cooperation Salon, AI and Economic Development Salon, and Beauty of Science Exhibitions. GUO Jiliang, Party Member and Secretary-General of Zhejiang Association for Science and Technology; ZHAO Xinlong, Vice President of ZJ Lab; and Piet Herdewijn, Member of the Royal Academy of Medicine of Belgium, attended and delivered speeches at the opening ceremony, which was chaired by ZHENG Yuhua, Vice President of ZJ Lab.

From Transformer to ChatGPT and then to Sora, artificial intelligence is evolving at a very rapid pace and has become an important force driving scientific discoveries and technological innovations. In the "Miaoju Qingke" lecturing session held in the morning, eight foreign and domestic young scientists from AI, life sciences, biocomputing, optical interconnect, digital media and other research fields delivered immersive speeches on "AI+", and shared their unique insights and advanced practices in different areas of artificial intelligence such as original innovation and artistic creation.

In the fields of justice, finance, education and manufacturing, for example, numerous S&T workers are integrating AI into more niche applications. Data show that each judge must adjudicate an average of roughly 300-400 cases per year, many of which are simple, repetitive cases such as financial loans and traffic accidents. KUANG Kun, Deputy Director of the Department of Artificial Intelligence of the College of Computer Science and Technology at Zhejiang University, mentioned in his speech that researchers are proposing to use AI for justice to make it faster and more efficient, and to improve interpretability and fairness in AI models.

Computing and interconnect technologies are facing great challenges as progress in artificial intelligence leads to a surge in demand for computational power. YU Shaoliang, Deputy Director of Research at the Research Center for Frontier Fundamental Studies of ZJ Lab, introduced the development of optical technologies employed in intelligent computing. "Optics has the advantages of high bandwidth, high parallelism and low power loss, which not only enables long-distance communication, but has also been used for multi-layer interconnects within computational power clusters. At the level of computing and exchange, optoelectronics and microelectronics are gradually deeply integrated, which has become an important trend in developing large-scale computational power clusters in the AI era. I think optics is illuminating the future of intelligent computing."

According to the presentations of several young researchers, different innovation institutes are looking forward to developing AI as an inclusive public service. As YU Kaicheng, a research fellow at the School of Engineering and head of the Autonomous Intelligence Lab of Westlake University, said at the beginning of his speech, "AI+" is more relevant to our daily life, even though it is aligned to science and technology.

Someone once said: "A bridge will fly to span the north and south, turning a deep chasm into a thoroughfare." Now, the "bridge of science and technology" has crossed national boundaries, connecting well-known universities and research institutions in Europe with the booming institutions of higher learning and state-of-the-art scientific research forces in Zhejiang Province. At the Youth Innovation and China-Europe Cooperation Salon organized by Westlake University in the afternoon, representatives from Chinese and European universities and research institutions focused on youth innovation, academic growth and international cooperation, and conducted exchanges and discussions on cooperation regarding "connecting science, technology, culture and innovation to promote global harmony", so as to realize cross-regional two-way efforts between China and Europe. The salon was co-chaired by QIU Min, a Guoqiang Endowed Chair Professor of Optical Engineering and Vice President of Westlake University, and Ms. YANG Li, founder of Fuvision Tech Hub in Germany. Eight domestic and overseas educational "big shots" expressed their unique insights based on the situation of education in their respective countries and schools, giving a boost to young scientists' innovative thinking and academic growth.

The AI and Economic Development Salon focuses on cutting-edge technologies such as AI and large language models (LLMs), ranging from AI-empowered industrial upgrading to AI-driven artistic creation and through to intelligent healthcare solutions. CHEN Guangyong, Deputy Director of Research at the Research Center for Life Sciences Computing of ZJ Lab, introduced the Lab's latest advances in intelligent computing-empowered life science research, and demonstrated an open computational ecosystem for life sciences based on protein LLMs.

The Beauty of Science Exhibitions include the Charm of Technology, the Poetry of Science, and the Question of Design, which were planned and executed by the School of Innovation & Design of China Academy of Art. Nearly 100 pieces of artwork from the China Academy of Art, Westlake University, ZJ Lab and Ali Center are displayed in the form of images and physical objects, showing the fusion of art and science in creations.