Jade River Talk 10th Anniversary: Faust in the Age of AI

Faust in the Age of AI

A Cross-Disciplinary Dialogue at the Peak, Jointly Exploring the Boundaries of Future Knowledge‌

Jade River Talk 10th Anniversary

Featuring the World’s First Immersive Intellectual Experience (Beijing)

Beijing, [December 20, 2025]‌ — As the solemn melodies of Bach’s Toccata and Fugue in D minor resonated through the Beijing Dahua City Center for the Performing Arts, a high-level interdisciplinary dialogue platform, “Jade River Talk,” founded its 10th-anniversary special event themed “Faust in the Age of AI.” Organized by IDEAS (Art & Culture Development Co., Ltd.), co-hosted by the Beijing Dahua City Center for the Performing Arts, and supported by strategic partners including Geely Holding Group, Dongrun Foundation, and Zeekr Automotive, the event pioneered an immersive “Theater of Thought” format. It gathered ten top-tier interdisciplinary guests and hundreds of audience members for a profound exploration of technology ethics, human nature, and the creation of the future. Academic support was provided by the Jiu Tian AI Team under China Mobile and the Interdisciplinary Research Center at Westlake University.

Pioneering “Theater of Thought”

An Immersive Stage Reimagining Intellectual Dialogue

This event broke through the traditional forum model and, for the first time, created a “Theater of Thought.” The stage, jointly designed by renowned director Yi Li Ming and veteran stage designer Zeng Li, was built on the philosophical imagery of Faust, creating a space for dialogue full of symbolism and immersion. In the opening segment, Ying Leng, founder and lead host of “Yuhé Night Talks,” appeared slowly from the orchestra pit in avant-garde attire inspired by Mephistopheles, as if extending an invitation to the contemporary intellectual community to explore the boundaries of technology and humanity, setting a profound and tension-filled tone for the entire event.

Cross-boundary “Faust” Matrix

The “Faust” Matrix: Bridging Disciplines

Xu Bing

Ma Yansong

Zhu Jiaming

Fei Jun

Lv Siqing

Zhao Hao

Tim Yip

Tang Chao

Ma Jun

Feng Junlan

Faced with the questions of our times, ten guests from diverse fields embodied the role of “Contemporary Fausts,” engaging in a multi-dimensional deep response:

‌Mirror of the Intellectual Ecosystem‌: Thinker and economist Zhu Jiaming analyzed the spiritual evolution of Faust from the 1.0 version of Goethe’s era to the 2.0 version in the AI age. Environmental data expert Mr. Ma Jun explored the potential and limitations of technology in empowering ecological governance, interpreting the symbiotic relationship between technology and society.
‌Anchor of Scientific Rationality‌: Physicist and biologist Professor Tang Chao elucidated the profound impact of AI in driving scientific paradigm shifts and reshaping scientific methods, while also pointing out challenges such as interpretability and the redefinition of human values. AI expert Dr. Feng Junlan, using entropy reduction as a thread, compared life and AI in terms of self-organization, emergence, and autonomy, revealing the sustainable learning, energy, and security dilemmas faced by AI development. Scientist Professor Zhao Hao from Tsinghua University, starting from the fields of computer vision and robotics, provided new perspectives for technical biomimicry and ethical discussions.

‌Artistic Innovation‌: Artist ‌Yip Tin Tim‌ expounded on the construction of spatial spirit in New Eastern Aesthetics, centered on humanistic warmth in the algorithmic age. Art and technology scholar ‌Fei Jun‌ analyzed pathways of human-machine co-creation within the context of new media art. Architect ‌Ma Yansong‌, in his talk titled “On the Roof,” advocated for humanistic expression in architecture under technological empowerment, upholding the unique value of human creativity.
‌Humanistic Core‌: Violinist ‌L‌v Siqing and artist ‌Xu Bing‌, respectively, used music and art—the two “meta-codes” of humanity—as media to probe the depth of the soul and the essence of communication in the technological age. Violinist Lv Siqing‘s live performance of Monti’s “Csárdás” demonstrated the irreplaceability of human artistic emotion. Artist Xu Bing shared his art satellite creation residency project, expanding the boundaries of art through space technology and reflecting on the limits of civilization and cognition from a space perspective.

The dialogue naturally flowed and clashed within the dynamic stage setting, forming a polyphonic tapestry of thought.

‌Art’s Grand Finale and the Inheritance of Public Welfare

Freezing Thoughtful Echoes with Hope

As the event closed, the children of Da Hua Yue Long Teng Fei Art Troupe, with pure children voice, sang “Ode to the Bell,” elevating the profound dialogue with warmth and symbolizing the传承 of humanistic spirit and future hope.

Da Hua Yue Long Teng Fei Art Troupe

As a decade-long summary of “Jade River Talk” embodying its core philosophy of “Innovation, Experience, Growth,” this event, supported by the Dongrun Foundation, creates an immersive “Thought Theater” for teenagers to engage with cutting-edge ideas, broaden their horizons, nurture innovative thinking, and set a benchmark for cross-boundary public welfare practice.