The delegation, which included the Ambassador of the Republic of France in the Republic of Serbia, H.E. Mr. Pierre Cochard, the Attaché for Cooperation of the French Embassy in Belgrade, Mr. François-Xavier Kowandy, and scientist and engineer Dr. Luc Julia, was warmly welcomed at the Faculty of Organizational Sciences by Prof. Dr. Marko Mihić, Vice-Dean for Strategic Development and Corporate Affairs, Prof. Dr. Sandra Jednak, Vice-Dean for International Cooperation, Prof. Dr. Veljko Jeremić, Vice-Dean for Science and Research, Prof. Dr. Vesna Damjanović, President of the Council of the Faculty of Organizational Sciences and Full Professor at the Department of Business Systems Organization, and AI expert Dr. Boris Delibašić.
The event was opened by Prof. Dr. Marko Mihić, Vice-Dean for Strategic Development and Corporate Affairs at the Faculty of Organizational Sciences, and H.E. Mr. Pierre Cochard, Ambassador of the Republic of France in the Republic of Serbia. The central part of the event was a lecture by Dr. Luc Julia on the topic “Generative AI: Myths and Reality,” and at the end, scholarships from the Government of the Republic of France were presented.
Professor Mihić welcomed the guests on behalf of the Dean, Prof. Dr. Milan Martić, the staff, and the students of the Faculty, and emphasized: “We have excellent cooperation with French universities and companies. This event represents an important milestone that proves our direction and commitment to our strategic goal. I sincerely hope that in the near future, we will organize more events and outstanding guest lectures like today’s.”
His Excellency Mr. Pierre Cochard greeted the management, staff, and students of the Faculty who showed great interest in the event. He expressed satisfaction that artificial intelligence was the theme of the French Day at FON, which is reflected in Dr. Luc Julia’s lecture. He talked about EU regulations on artificial intelligence and emphasized that France and Serbia have decided not to miss out on the artificial intelligence revolution. The ambassador mentioned that with the support of France, Serbia has been selected to host the next meeting of the Global Partnership on Artificial Intelligence (GPAI). Additionally, he highlighted that France will host the AI Summit in Paris in February 2025. “The summit will be an opportunity to build international consensus on AI by providing a platform for a wide range of actors, from developing, emerging and developed economies, international organizations to civil society, including the private sector, as well as research and academia,” the ambassador declared.
The centerpiece of the event was Dr. Luc Julia’s lecture. Dr. Julia is an innovator, engineer, and computer scientist. Since 2021, he has been the Chief Scientific Officer of Renault Group.
During his highly inspiring lecture on “Generative AI: Myths and Reality,” he discussed the advent of artificial intelligence and its early applications, emphasizing how advanced AI models, such as ChatGPT, have become increasingly precise over time by learning from large amounts of data. Additionally, he emphasized examples from everyday life demonstrating how AI can fail to assist us, advising caution in accepting answers obtained through this means. Dr. Julia emphasized the importance of creativity and the functioning of the human brain over the way artificial intelligence models provide answers. He advised students to ensure that whatever they use artificial intelligence for, it serves the benefit of all of us. He concluded his inspiring lecture by stating that only through learning, hard work, and continuous research can we achieve new, better, and more accurate versions of artificial intelligence.
Students were very interested in asking questions about the new positions that artificial intelligence can bring to the job market, ways to use ChatGPT to achieve academic and career success, and the areas within a corporation where artificial intelligence is applicable.
In the final part of the event, representatives from the French Institute in Serbia, Ms. Vesna Adamović and Ms. Sandra Elezović, presented scholarships from the Government of the Republic of France for further studies or research stays in France to the students.
