Pacific Neighborhood Consortium (PNC), an international academic organization founded 32 years ago with the mission of integrating digital technology with humanities, will hold its annual conference this year under the leadership of new Chair Dr. Shin-Kun Peng. The conference will take place from September 20-22, 2025, at the Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences, Hanoi, Vietnam.
The conference theme is "Mind Meets Machine: Rethinking Intelligence and Knowledge in the Age of AI." This event aims to provide in-depth exploration of the latest developments, cutting-edge applications, and critical challenges of artificial intelligence in contemporary humanities research, with the goal of establishing a solid foundation for innovative research methodologies and collaborative models for the future.
This three-day academic gathering will feature 67 paper presentations and is expected to attract nearly 100 scholars and experts from over 10 countries and regions.
As usual, there will be three heavyweight keynote speeches. On the opening day of the conference (September 20th), Professor Huu Hanh Hoang, Deputy Director General of Department of International Cooperation from Vietnam’s Ministry of Science and Technology, will deliver a keynote speech titled "Vietnam's Journey in Digital Transformation and AI Mastery: National Strategy Meets Machine Intelligence to Shape Future Knowledge." Professor Hoang will share Vietnam's strategic layout and approaches in digital transformation, exploring how artificial intelligence can be applied to real-world challenges through examples in healthcare, education, and agricultural sectors.
The second day's (September 21st) keynote speech will be delivered by Professor The Anh Han of Department of Computer Science from Teesside University. His presentation is titled "From Human Cooperation to AI Existential Risks: Unveiling Emergent Collective Behaviors through Game Theoretical Analysis." Professor Han will use game theory's theoretical framework to analyze potential collective behavioral patterns that AI systems might generate, and explore the potential risks and challenges these behaviors pose to human society.
The conference's grand finale (September 22nd) will feature a keynote speech by Professor Tzong-Han Tsai, Research Fellow from the Research Center for Humanities and Social Sciences at Academia Sinica. The speech is titled "From Human Learning to Machine Knowledge: A Cross-Disciplinary Approach to Building Culturally-Aware AI." Approaching from humanities and social sciences perspectives, the presentation will explore how to integrate cultural understanding and social consciousness into artificial intelligence systems. Using Taiwan's own language model TAIDE as a central case study, Professor Tsai will illustrate how he makes TAIDE on par with international leading models by building localized open-source models; what’s better, TAIDE is also built to carry profound cultural nuances
During the 3-day conference, in addition to compelling keynote speeches and rich paper presentations, the organizer will also showcase "Open Museum" online exhibitions and posters at the venue, presenting the latest achievements in digital humanities research projects. Furthermore, Academia Sinica Press, in collaboration with Taiwan’s National Central Library and several Vietnamese publishing companies, will set up a joint book fair of academic publications and scholarly exhibitions, displaying the latest research results and publications related to digital humanities projects from both Taiwan and Vietnam. This joint book exhibition will not only enrich the conference but also provide attendees with an opportunity to understand the frontiers of digital humanities research.
Dr. Shin-Kun Peng, Vice President of Academia Sinica and the newly appointed Chair of PNC, had high hopes for this annual symposium:
"Artificial intelligence and digital technologies have brought humanity unprecedented opportunities, while also posing significant challenges. The PNC 2025 Annual Conference brings together distinguished researchers and scholars from diverse fields—including information technology, digital humanities, and social sciences—to explore a wide range of thought-provoking and impactful topics. Through these discussions, we aim to foster meaningful connections within the academic community."
As artificial intelligence develops rapidly, how to maintain humanistic care and social responsibility while promoting technological progress has become an important issue that the global academic community and policymakers must address. PNC 2025 Annual Conference and Joint Meetings will provide profound academic insights and practical advice for these critical issues through diverse perspectives from international scholars.
PNC 2025 Keynote Sessions
Topic: Vietnam's Journey in Digital Transformation and AI Mastery: National Strategy Meets Machine Intelligence to Shape Future Knowledge
Date: September 20, 2025
Speaker: Dr. Huu Hanh Hoang
Deputy Director General, Department of International Cooperation, Ministry of Science and Technology, Vietnam
Associate Professor, Department of Information Technology, Posts and Telecommunications Institute of Technology(Hanoi), Vietnam
Topic: From Human Cooperation to AI Existential Risks: Unveiling Emergent Collective Behaviors through Game Theoretical Analysis
Date: September 21, 2025
Speaker: Dr. The Anh Han
Professor, Department of Computer Science, Teesside University, United Kingdom
Director, Center for Digital Innovation, School of Computing, Engineering and Digital Technologies, Teesside University, United Kingdom
Topic: From Human Learning to Machine Knowledge: A Cross-Disciplinary Approach to Building Culturally-Aware AI
Date: September 22, 2025
Speaker: Tzong-Han Tsai
Research Fellow, Research Center for Humanities and Social Sciences, Academia Sinica, Taiwan
Professor, Department of Computer Science and Information Engineering, National Central University, Taiwan
Pacific Neighborhood Consortium 2025 Annual Conference and Joint Meetings (PNC 2025)
Topic: Mind Meets Machine: Rethinking Intelligence and Knowledge in the Age of AI
Date: September 20-22, 2025
Venue: Institute of Social Sciences Information, Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences, Hanoi, Vietnam
Conference Website
