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分享亞勤的精彩演講。這是他上周在哥倫比亞大學工學院2020畢業典禮演講。他稱為是絕對是最大的“熵”的一屆畢業生。

本文來自人工智能學家微信公眾號
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張亞勤2020寄語哥倫比亞大學畢業生：引領未知時代

2020年5月18日，人工智慧和數位視訊的世界級科學家和企業家，美國藝術與科學院院士、百度前總裁、清華大學智慧科學講席教授張亞勤博士，在哥倫比亞大學工程學院的畢業典禮上發表了主題演講。

張亞勤說:“面對全球疫情，技術成為最關鍵的變革力量，高速網路、軟體和人工智慧等基礎技術塑造我們生活、學習、工作和娛樂方式。”他提到：“隨著世界進入一個充滿挑戰和不確定性的新階段，年輕工程師迎來了回應歷史使命的決定性時刻，不僅要以技術創新，還要以同理心、勇氣和人文主義精神來迎接使命。”

哥倫比亞大學工程學院院長瑪麗·博伊斯(MaryC. Boyce)表示:“我們很高興能請到張亞勤博士(Dr.Ya-Qin Zhang)給我們的畢業生做演講，以此來紀念這一重要的里程碑。”她談到：“我們的畢業生將進入一個變化的世界，他們也將成為時代變化的締造者。學生們將受益張亞勤博士的觀點，其非凡職業道路也將鼓舞學生們。”（引用哥倫比亞大學新聞報導）

以下為百度前總裁、清華大學智慧科學講席教授張亞勤在2020年哥倫比亞大學工程學院畢業典禮上的致辭全文：

尊敬的Bollinger校長, Boyce院長，家長們，同學們，大家好。
我很榮幸能夠在這個非常時期，以特殊的形式出席這次特別的典禮。首先，恭喜2020屆畢業生，對你們取得的傑出成就表示衷心祝賀。你們做到了！

我也是一名哥倫比亞大學的學生家長。我的兒子現在哥大工學院二年級學生，我女兒是哥大商學院2020屆的畢業生。我想與所有家長分享這份難以言表的喜悅和驕傲，我們都做到了！

這無疑是我們有生記憶以來最具挑戰性和不確定性的一個時期。

我們不僅看到了科技創新的極速進步和第四次工業革命的巨大力量，人工智慧、納米技術、量子電腦和5G通信等等技術不斷突破。

我們還目睹了百年一遇的流行疾病在全球範圍內帶來的突發性破壞和災難性影響，對我們的社會基礎、經濟結構和生活方式帶來挑戰。

對於那些學習過熱力學第二定律的人來說，“熵”這個術語一定不陌生，它表示動態系統中的混沌程度(Chaos)。資訊理論的創始者Claud Shannon將這一概念擴展到了資訊的不確定性和隨機性。可以說，2020屆畢業生是被賦予“熵”值最高的一屆。未來的不可預測和混沌程度都是前所未有的。對你們如此，對我們所有人也是如此。

與你們的交流令我回想起我的學生時代和年輕時的工程師工作經歷。1990年畢業後，我的第一份工作是開發演算法，壓縮圖像和視頻，完成遠端傳輸，對國際標準MPEG和H.26x做出一點小貢獻：MPEG和H.26x也是如今Netflix、YouTube、Skype和Zoom等流行視頻應用程式的重要基礎。在過去的三十年裡，我有幸一直在激動人心的創新技術中徜徉， HDTV、自動駕駛、人工智慧和雲計算等等。在這一路走來，收穫的不僅是無窮的樂趣，也有超凡的艱辛。我想跟同學們分享我的三個體會：

1）在數據爆炸和不斷變化的世界中，成為具備強適應能力的學習者。在瞬息萬變的技術行業中，五年前學到的知識大多已無用處。你們在哥倫比亞大學中學習到最有價值的是學習新知的能力，是從繁雜噪音中分別信號的能力，是從眾多數據中提取“熵”的能力。我有一個行之有效的習慣，每天早上花10分鐘，找出對我而言最新的發現或最重要的3件事情，當天來學習。

2) 要擁有獨特的觀點和視角。當你們進入現實世界，會自然而然的開始被“打磨”，去遵循已有的趨勢，融入他人。我懇請你們保持自己的尖銳、棱角和與眾不同。當我與年輕工程師面聊時，我期待他們的觀點、他們的“熵”、他們鮮活的想法，這些遠比圓滑、打磨、“正確”要重要得多。

3) 無論做什麼事情，要秉承道德和人性。兩千多年前，偉大的希臘思想家蘇格拉底將道德作為追求真理的靈魂。大約同一時期，偉大的中國哲學家孔子把人性的“仁義”作為社會結構的基礎。在截然不同的文化下，兩位偉大思想家所見略同，並非巧合。今天，當我們面臨更多選擇、迷茫和誘惑時，這一點就變得更加重要。技術是中立的，但創新者是有使命的。技術是工具，但技術人員是為人類服務的。院長Mary Boyce對哥倫比亞工學院提出的願景“技術以人為本”是工程學的核心，也是我們工程師和技術人員的宗旨。

年輕的朋友們，對你們而言，這是一個決定性的時刻，請盡情的用你們的才華、激情和創新，更用你們的同理心，勇氣和人性，去展現，去閃耀，回應使命的召喚！

再次恭喜你們，2020屆畢業生！

以下是哥倫比亞大學對張亞勤作為畢業生典禮發言人的報導和過往成就的介紹
https://engineering.columbia.edu/news/class-day-2020-ya-qin-zhang

人工智慧和數位視訊的世界級科學家和企業家，百度前總裁張亞勤於2020年5月18日，在哥倫比亞大學工程學院的畢業典禮上發表主題演講。因為疫情的緣故，演講和畢業典禮將採取提前錄製形式，發送給全球的畢業生及其家人。

百度作為科技巨頭，向全球超過20億人提供包括移動互聯網和雲計算等服務，張亞勤曾負責智慧駕駛、雲計算、新興業務和公司的技術部門。是一位廣受讚譽的科學家和技術專家和創新領導者。他是聯合國、世界經濟論壇和許多公共論壇的領導人和發言人，積極討論新技術對社會變革性的影響以及如何縮小數位鴻溝。2018年，他帶領百度成為第一家加入國際人工智慧道德組織AI (PAI)的中國公司，目前也是全球最大自動駕駛開源平臺Apollo理事會的主席。

張亞勤說:“面對全球疫情，技術成為最關鍵的變革力量，高速網路、軟體和人工智慧等基礎技術塑造我們生活、學習、工作和娛樂方式。”他提到：“隨著世界進入一個充滿挑戰和不確定性的新階段，年輕工程師迎來了回應歷史使命的決定性時刻，不僅要以技術創新，還要以同理心、勇氣和人文主義精神來迎接使命。”

加入百度之前，張亞勤擔任了16年Microsoft的高管，任公司全球資深副總裁和微軟亞州研究院院長。2011年，他在中國創立了微軟風險投資加速器(Microsoft VentureAccelerator)。作為中國最有活力的創業引擎之一，該加速器已經幫助孵化了200多家公司。

張亞勤將在7月加入清華大學，擔任AI科學講席教授，並創立智慧產業研究院（AIR），將專注於第四次工業革命中的技術，包括自動駕駛，人工智慧、物聯網以及神經網路計算。

哥倫比亞大學工程學院院長瑪麗·博伊斯(MaryC. Boyce)表示:“我們很高興能請到張亞勤博士(Dr.Ya-Qin Zhang)給我們的畢業生做演講，以此來紀念這一重要的里程碑。”她談到：“在這個非凡的時代，沒有人能夠更好地講述技術在我們生活中扮演的角色，來描述技術在創造一個更緊密、更安全、更有創造力的人類社會中的潛力。無論工作還是社交，我們比以往任何時候都更加依賴技術來保持聯繫，我們的畢業生將進入一個變化的世界，他們也將成為時代變化的締造者。學生們將受益張亞勤博士的觀點，其非凡職業道路也將鼓舞學生們。”

張亞勤在12歲進入中國科技大學少年班，並獲得電氣工程學士和碩士學位。之後前往美國獲得喬治華盛頓大學的理學博士學位。他畢業于哈佛大學高管商業課程，在職業生涯的早期，曾擔任新澤西州普林斯頓（現為SRI）的Sarnoff Corp多媒體實驗室總監，還曾是GTE Labs（現為Verizon）的高級技術人員。

張亞勤是美國藝術與科學院院士和澳大利亞國家工程院院士。

1997年，年僅31歲的他，成為有史以來最年輕的科學家，被任命為IEEE會士。他撰寫了550多篇論文、12本書，並獲得了62項美國專利，為視頻編碼、流媒體、互聯網服務等領域的演算法和理論制定了全球標準。被IT時報、CNBC、《商業週刊》和全球商務評為亞洲十大CEO、年度CEO、50位全球傑出人物和十大創新者。

張亞勤博士是哥倫比亞工學院2022屆學生和2020屆商學院畢業生的家長，他同時還是哥倫比亞工學院訪問委員會的成員，也是哥倫比亞商學院的高級學者。

張亞勤哥倫比亞大學畢業典禮演講英文原文：

Leading in times ofuncertainty
President Bollinger, Dean Boyce, Parentsand Students:
I am honored to be here at this veryspecial occasion, at a very special time, in the most special form. First, abig congratulation to the class of 2020 for your remarkable accomplishments. Youmade it!
I am also a proud parent of Columbia.My son is a rising junior at the engineering school, and my daughter is also aclass 2020 for the business school. I share the immense joy and incrediblepride with all the parents, we all made it too!
This is undoubtedly the mostchallenging and uncertain time in our living memory.
We see the staggering pace ofinnovation and the transformative power of the fourth industrial revolution,with technology breakthroughs such as artificial intelligence, nano-technology,quantum computing, and 5G advanced communications.
We also see the sudden disruption andcatastrophic impact of the once-in-a-century pandemic at a global scale thatchallenges the very foundation of our social fabric, economic structure, andlife style.
For those of you who have learned the 2ndlaw of thermodynamics, you know the term “entropy”, which represents degree of chaosin a dynamic system. Claud Shannon, the founding father of information theory,extended this notion to measure information uncertainty and randomness. It’s fair to say that the Class of 2020 is the one that is “given” the highest entropy. The level ofunpredictability and chaos is unprecedented for you -- and for all of us.
Talking with you reminds me of my earlyyears as a student and young engineer. My first job after graduation in 1990was developing algorithms to compress imagery and video for remote transmission,essentially to extract the maximum entropy. The work eventuallycontributed in a small way to a set of international standards known as MPEGand H.26x, the base for today’s popular video applications used in Netflix, YouTube, Skype andZoom. Over last three decades, I had the distinct opportunity to work on someof the most exciting technologies such as HDTV, autonomous driving, AI, and cloudcomputing. I have had the wildest ride with not only a great deal of fun, butalso extraordinary hardship along the way. Let me share with you three of mypersonal learnings:
1) Be an adaptive learner in the world of dataexplosion and constant change. In today’s fast changing technology industry, most of what you learned fiveyears ago is irrelevant. The most valuable skill you’vegained at Columbia is the ability to learn new things, to discern the signalfrom the noise, and to extract entropy from the ocean of data. One routine Ifind particularly helpful is to commit just 10 minutes each morning and prioritize3 things – anything new and important to me – to learn that day.
2) Have a unique point of view and perspective. When you get into the realworld, there is a natural tendency to become “polished”, to follow existing trends, and toblend in with the rest.
I ASK you tomaintain your sharpness, your edge, and your differences. When I interviewpeople, particularly young engineers, I look for their point of view, theirentropy, and their flash of ideas, which to me is far more important than beingsmooth, polished or “correct”.
3) Hold Ethics and humanity at theheart of what you do. Over 2000 years ago, the great Greek thinker Ｓock-ruh-tease put ethics as the soul forthe pursuit of truth. Around the same time, the great Chinese philosopher Confuciusplaced “Renyi”, whichessentially means humanity, as the foundation for social structure. It is nocoincidence that two of the greatest minds from vastly different cultures hadthe same idea. This has become even more critical today as we all face morechoices, confusion, and temptations. Technology is neutral, but innovatorshave purpose. Engineering is a tool, but engineers serve humanity. “Engineering for Humanity”, the vision set byDean Mary Boyce for Columbia engineering is the very core of engineering andwhat engineers are all about.
My youngfriends, this is the defining moment for you, for you to rise, to shine andanswer the historic call of duty, with not only your talent, spark andinnovations, but also compassion, courage and humanity.
Congratulations again, Class 2020 !

[Is There Such a Thing As Founder Syndrome?: Testing a New Idea for Entrepreneurship]

As a lover of language, I often will obsess and delight in a phrase or a word that I think offers unique insight into humanity or experience.

Language can sometimes open up doors into understanding, not simply because a definition is precise, or taken literally. Used in an inventive way, you can see the world differently and perhaps understand something for its unique traits.

I find this to be the case with understanding and learning about founders. Founders tend to break the mold, as we say, but we tend to see them -- I say "we" meaning the general VC and startups ecosystem -- through a really traditional business lens, contrary to how unique they are.

In fact, I am not so sure you can see a founder's traits through a business lens, because what founders do is much different than simply running a business. I think you have to creatively see them in a new way.

This idea struck me deeply while I was in Japan, where I was relaxing with a memoir about the late neurologist Dr. Oliver Sacks, while my colleagues skied and snowboarded on a cloud-covered mountain in the snow. Sacks died in 2015, but spent a career curing neurological diseases by taking a unique approach.

I came across the word "syndrome."

It has a nice ring to it, but first, the context.

First of all, Sacks is famous for a medical experiment that "unlocked" patients who were frozen in a kind of living coma situation. You may have seen this in a movie called "Awakenings."

These patients would be frozen in a state of hibernation, awake, but not able to move. Sacks came up with the idea of dosing them with a chemical called L-DOPA, and the results were extraordinary. Almost overnight, these "vegetables," as he empathetically described him in his memoir, awakened. In one case, Sacks took a red ball he kept in his pocket and threw it at a seemingly unmovable patient, who immediately snapped to and caught the ball, threw it back, and then resumed his catatonic state.

Sacks was also something of an eccentric, who was notorious for doing things that probably a normal sane person would never do.

For example, as a medical intern in California, he once drank a vial of blood, washing it down with a glass of milk, simply because he felt compelled to understand what it tasted like. A lover of motorcycles, he quite recklessly "stepped off," as he put it, his bike traveling at 80mph, just to see what would happen. What happened? A few bruises and a torn leather jacket and pants. But nothing horrible.

In certain circles, he is still considered to be notorious and misunderstood. But his view of diagnoses centered on finding the "syndrome," and treating the syndrome as a kind of identity.

And here is our word of the day!

I am not suggesting that founders are sick people. I am saying that they are different, because they present a type of syndrome that other humans do not possess.

Syndrome, in the Greek etymology, means "a running together."

Often we look at disease as this kind of failure of the system. Something has invaded. Something has harmed the corpus of the human. But Sacks looked at syndrome issues quite literally as a grouping of things that made the patient unique.

Instead of instantly diagnosing and medicating neurological patients, he would sit and talk to them for hours, trying to understand the unique syndrome of their identity.

In one instance, he talked for four hours to a raving manic dementia patient, later concluding that there was something "inherently human about that identity in there."

Can the same be done with founders? Do they present a syndrome of entrepreneurship?

What are the characteristics of this founder syndrome?

I won't spend this whole post describing my idea, but I think a central and core attribute of a Founder Syndrome is that the discomfort that founders experience with reality is also the impetus and the catalyst that moves them to "solve" reality with their own attributes.

This syndrome manifests itself in an overarching belief that they can change the world. They are somewhat delusional and even maniacal in their approach to reality solutions. The world doesn't work for them, and rather than mire themselves in depression and disappointment in it, their syndrome rather creatively enables them to, in an expansive way, impact the lives of other people, and create things that shift reality.

Steve Jobs once said that you can only understand your journey by looking backwards, and connecting the dots after you have completed them. This is quite symptomatic of a founder syndrome.

There are no dots to connect, until you make them. A consciousness that sees the world for what it can be can seem to some like crazy talk. Just look at Elon Musk. For how long has he heard that his ideas are stupid, crazy, not worth the paper they are printed on?

Or Nikola Tesla, who died in poverty, not being believed?

Or Marie Curie, who obsessively hunted down invisible radioactivity, which killed her, but without whom we would not be able to treat cancer, or plausibly have nuclear energy?

All of these people have something of the Founder Syndrome, an ability to see what is not seen by others, and to manifest it into reality, creating incredulity until the new reality is undeniable.

Are you suffering from a syndrome, friend? If you would like to be part of our accelerator and invent what has not existed before, and if you would like to be around other unique people like you, track our application process at https://appworks.tw/accelerator

Our next cohort will start in the summer.

We would be glad to take your application when they launch later in the year. We will be accepting founders working in AI and Blockchain.

Doug Crets
Communications Master, AppWorks

Photo by Franck V. on Unsplash

Member of the Month – Rocco Ancora @ X Sight

Member of the Month – Rocco Ancora @ X Sight
( www.xsight.com.au )
MORE PHOTO AND INTERVIEW : www.wppa.com.hk
Member of the Month – Nick Ghionis @ X Sight ( www.xsight.com.au)

1. You have become the Creative Director of XSiGHT since 2010, what you have to do under this title? Is it a very busy position as you are responsible for all the XSiGHT in Australia and over the world?

My role as creative director was to implement efficient workflows & unique post-production techniques to give the quality that XSiGHT is renowned for. With my knowledge & expertise in post-production & fine art printing together with Nick & Sharifa we have introduced a new range of fine art products that have once again propelled XSiGHT to the forefront of the Australian wedding industry. My role is exclusive to XSiGHT Melbourne.

2. What is your target or aim when you made the decision to take this role? Have you participated in polishing the marketing plan of XSiGHT since your joined into them?

When I took on the role of creative director, I became a piece of a jigsaw puzzle that forms XSIGHT. I am part of a team that can only be described as the best in the business. We all have our strengths and the key is to concentrate on what you’re good at.

3. How you come to the idea of XMENTORS with Nick Ghionis? Any specific marketing plan of it?

The idea of the XMENTORS came about when I joined the XSIGHT family. My passion for the art of photography and post-production was matched by Nick and Sharifa’s amazing business and marketing strengths. We decided that by each of us teaching our strengths we would have an amazing product to deliver our seminar attendees. It is all about taking your photography beyond just pretty pictures.

4. How do you keep a balancing role in Creative Director, Photographer and also Speakers? How you manage your work and time especially you are one of the most sought after speakers in the world in these years?

Having a great team to support me, allows me to balance all of the things that I do. Each person has specific roles to help the business run smoothly but most important is client liaison, especially when we are away doing XMENTORS seminars.

5. Any advise or suggestions to photographers who just entered the industry and thinking about to set up their own business; and also to those photographers who are already running their own company?

As photographers we consider ourselves artists first and business people last. We have to realize that we are sales people as well and a business plan needs to be put in order to succeed. You have to make informed decisions and grow your business and profit margin. Too many up and coming photographers fail because they don’t value their work or indeed their time.

6. When you have started your career as a photographer?

“I went to school to study architecture and somehow ended up doing Photography. I never actually completed my photography course. I was fortunate enough to be given the opportunity to do a traineeship with a very large wedding and portrait studio in Melbourne. At the time the studio was shooting over 300 weddings a year with 6 full time photographers.”

7. What reasons made you have such decision (to be a photographer)?

Just fell in love with the idea of capturing moments that can never be repeated and interpreting how I see the world through my camera.

A moment that can never be repeated but can be cherished for a lifetime by the viewer.

9. Do you remember what was your first set of equipment as a professional photographer? How’s their performance? Good?

When I first started to shoot weddings, it was almost 20 years ago, there was no digital. My first camera was a haselblad 503cx medium format film camera. The image quality of medium format film was amazing. As a photographer you really needed to know your craft in order to come back with great results.

The flash system i used on location was a Metz 45. It was used in manual mode…no TTL and of course a flash meter.

10. When was the 1st time you had your very first shot? In what circumstances? Was it an amazing one? Then immediate fell in love with “shooting”?

It was a portrait of my father that I shot on black and white film which I processed and hand printed myself. It was very early in my photographic career, but it made me realize just how much control i had in the image making process from capture to print.

11. After determined to be a professional photographer, what was your plan? Like setting up a company?

I worked for a studio for several years before I ventured out and set up my own studio. I felt that in order to succeed I not only needed to be a good Photographer and also have good business sense. I learned a lot by being part of such a large successful studio

12. Do you have any secret method to make your “perfect shot” if everything at the moment is just like a mess? (Like place is dirty, not enough lighting, a small room crowded with people, kids and dogs are running around, couple is getting angry and even yelling & etc.)

You really need to be malleable with your personality and take control of any situation. Having great communication skills is a very important tool.

Before we even consider taking a photograph we need to be in control of our subjects and effectively communicate our intentions to the couple. I never turn up to a wedding without first building some form of relationship with the client. This happens well before the wedding and it is very important that they understand also what is expected from them as a couple.

The main ingredients for me are as follows:

Your heart, your mind, and your eyes. You need to feel with your heart the emotion pre visualize how you can covey that mood with your mind and finally use your eyes to arrange the elements that create the image.

13. What do you think is the most important element in photo shooting?

The most important element in photography is LIGHT. You need to master the use of Natural and artificial light. By doing so, you have the confidence to create anywhere anytime. The other important tool is understanding focal lengths of your lenses. This not only helps you to control perspective but also it teaches you how to control messy and un interesting backgrounds.

14. Which place or country you like the most as you have traveled to so many places for shooting? And why? (Could be in terms of people there, scene, food & etc)

The most amazing place for me is New York city. There is so much to shoot there… the people are great and the vibe is just awesome. Having said that you can take amazing images anywhere. As a wedding and portrait photographer it is more about the subject rather than the idea of easily being seduced by the location.

15. When and what is the most impressive moment for all the years as a professional photographer?

Winning my first “Australian Wedding photographer of the year” award back in 2004. At the time I felt that I had really achieved my ultimate goal and was afraid of losing my inspiration now that i had achieved such an accolade. I pushed myself further and further from that point on and won it again for a record Four times. This has never been done before in Australia by any photographer.

16. Have you ever met any difficulty that made you very frustrated and even thinking to give up as a photographer?

I can’t imagine being anything else but a photographer and I would like to think that I will be photographing in some shape or form till the day I die. Haven encountered any obstacle that was ever too big to be overcome by the passion that i have for what I do.

17. When and what is your milestone in your career life as a photographer?

Being named as one of the top 10 Wedding photographers is the world by American Photo magazine. This truly has been a great honor.

18. Do you have any mentor?

“Early in my career, the amazing Yervant was my teacher and mentor. These days, I still find his work very inspirational, but there are many others in the industry whose work I admire, it’s just too difficult to narrow down to one name. Having said that it’s great to share Ideas with my business partner and amazing artist Nick Ghionis.

19. Which is your best shot? And why? (Would be great if you could show us)

I love this shot of the bride walking down the stairs and this beautiful moment presented itself. The parents were hugging with joy in the right hand corner of the frame unseen to the bride. On the walls of the house there were photographs hanging of moments that had already been documented in that family history. I named this image “as time goes by”, and was awarded the Grand award and WPPI for wedding Photojournalism.

20. If, you haven’t chosen to be a professional photographer, what do you think you will become? An accountant? An architect? A chef?

I was studying Architectural design before I became a photographer so I would probably say “Architect”

21. Any advice or suggestion could be given to photographers, especially for those fresh photographers?

Value your work and your time. Get plenty of experience before going out on your own.

22. What is your plan in the coming 5 years?

Recently I launched a new company “CAPTURE TO PRINT” which specialized in post-production of images and fine art printing. I still love shooting but post-production and fine art printing is also a passion and love to offer my skills as a master printmaker to bring other photographers vision to life.

23. What is your motto as a professional photographer?

Photography is a journey in the life of the photographer not a destination.

24. What is your motto in your life?

It is only by giving that you shall receive.