Dr. Po-Shen Loh's Bio:

Dr. Po-Shen Loh is a social entrepreneur and mathematician, with a track record of inventing incentive-aligned solutions to timely population-scale real-world problems, from pandemic control to helping human society thrive in the AI era. He is a math professor at Carnegie Mellon University, and served a decade-long term as the national coach of the USA International Mathematical Olympiad team from 2013–2023, which ranked #1 in the world 4 times during that period. Since 2023, he has been the Vice President of the IMO Foundation, as the founder and organizer of the annual IMO Alumni Reunion. His latest research innovation brings together math stars and professional actors, to mass-produce live-streamed creative problem-solving lessons that match the engagement level of online video entertainment. His awards range from an IMO silver medal to the USA Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers. His research and educational outreach takes him to cities across the world, reaching over 10,000 people each year through public lectures and events, and he has featured in or co-created videos totaling over 20 million YouTube views. His academic degrees are from Caltech, Cambridge, and Princeton.

Symposium Abstract:

As AI advances at shocking speed, what is the future of humanity? How should people develop skills that will still be useful in a world filled with automation? The speaker, Carnegie Mellon math professor Po-Shen Loh, traveled to 100 cities last year, speaking with (and learning from) thousands of audiences on this topic, on a tour which was even covered by the Wall Street Journal. His perspective combines insight from having served as the national coach of the USA Math Olympiad team for a decade, together with his firsthand experience inventing new solutions for large-scale real-world problems from pandemic control to problem-solving education. In this talk, he will share his latest recommendations on how to lean into what makes us human, how to navigate the future landscape of education (including college), and how to learn how to solve unfamiliar problems. Many of his recommendations are quite different from how students and parents currently approach life. To substantiate this advice, he will also share his own story of how he used these principles to invent some of the real-world solutions mentioned above.

Earlier events featuring Dr. Po-Shen Loh         

Saturday, April 27 with the ACP Youth Leadership Institute marked the informative seminar by Professor Po-Shen Loh, involving a balance of networking opportunities, keynote presentations emphasizing “future-proofing our kids”, and interactive sessions among members. The animated gathering sparked the interest of over a hundred students and parents who were given the unique opportunity to engage with Professor Loh. Overall, with the collaboration of the avid members and organizers of the Youth Leadership Institute, this event truly established itself as indispensable to the minds of the aspiring youth generation.

           After some snacks and greetings, the guest speaker, Professor Loh, who has been a math professor at Carnegie Mellon University and served as the National Coach of the winning USA International Mathematical Olympiad, was warmly introduced. YLI members and guests were given the pleasure of engaging in a lifechanging lesson about the rise of Artificial intelligence in our lives. By involving numerous amounts of topics of his life, he was able to introduce why artifcial intelligence matters.

           Loh explains the human brain was not optimized for thinking, but instead for reproduction. But what exactly should we do, is what Loh asked the audience. Bringing up examples of the Steam Engine, man’s strength has already been surpassed but is still invaluable. He brought up the interesting phenomenon that the first jobs who will be replaced will be the software engineer, since the people who are building these AI are most familiar with this field. AI development is not driven by the thought of making the world a better place, but by making the most money, and replacing the most jobs.

           Shifting to another aspect, Loh pointed out that many famous philosophers were mathematicians. He brought up two key principles, which were the way to be happy is to make a lot of other people happy, and hard work is fun if you are working on something meaningful. First, create a network of trust between people by creating value for people. He applied these principles to his own company LIVE, which brings value to all sides.

           Finally ending the session, Loh sprinkled in some intriguing life lessons he learned along his amazing journey. In college, make friends two years older than you, by the time you need a job they will be working in management. He expounded on the fact that economics in essence is land, labor, and capital, and our children only have labor, which AI will soon take over. The fundamental job that can’t be taken away will be educators. Teachers not only teach students information but also teach kids how to be people. To accomplish this, you need teachers at human level. Ultimately, the event’s unwavering enthusiasm attests to its success in providing a tangible platform that propels the ACP Youth Leadership community into becoming the true leaders of tomorrow.

Author: Timothy Mei