Hong Kong students lauded for using AI to help elderly fulfil travel dreams

A group of Hong Kong students has created an award-winning initiative that uses artificial intelligence to help elderly couples fulfil their travel dreams, with the city leader’s wife highlighting the technology’s role in volunteer services.

Janet Lee Lam Lai-sim, the spouse of Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu, lauded the achievement at the Hong Kong Volunteer Award’s presentation ceremony on Friday, saying innovation and technology would drive progress in volunteer development.

“I hope everyone can leverage technology to break through constraints of time and geography, so that people of all ages and backgrounds can participate in voluntary work, and together unleash the spirit of caring for Hong Kong,” she said.

The award is co-organised by the Home and Youth Affairs Bureau and the government-funded Agency for Volunteer Service.

At the ceremony, agency chairwoman Melissa Kaye Pang also thanked volunteers for their role in supporting victims of the recent fire at Wang Fuk Court in Tai Po, saying their efforts “demonstrated the most precious aspect of the volunteer spirit”.

Other cases highlighted at the event included the work of students from Buddhist Sum Heung Lam Memorial College in Tuen Mun, whose project allowed elderly people, including those with cognitive impairments, to take pictures using AI-generated backgrounds of places they were unable to visit.

“For instance, a couple wanted to visit Brazil but couldn’t due to their physical condition, so we used AI technology to help them realise their wish,” said Chow Wah, the teacher supervising the project. “It’s moving for them and deeply moving for us too.”