Event Report | Scientific Thinking, AI, and Investment Insight: Highlights from the 2025 TWiST Lecture

TWiST President Ray-Hua Horng presents certificates of appreciation to the two speakers. (Photo provided by the author)

The TWiST lecture “Creating Value through Scientific Thinking: Empowering a New Generation of Women” concluded successfully. The event featured two distinguished speakers—Lydia Hsiao-Mei Lin, Assistant Professor in the Department of Information Management at National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, and Shu-Fen Cheng, Chief Investment Officer of Cathay Financial Holdings. Both were also re-elected to the TWiST Board on the day of the event, reflecting the growing influence of women professionals in Taiwan’s technology and finance sectors.

Speaker 1: Assistant Professor Lydia Hsiao-Mei Lin

Department of Information Management, National Taiwan University of Science and Technology | AI and Data Science Research | 2025 TWiST Board Member

Professor Lin has long been dedicated to generative AI, data science, and interdisciplinary education. She is especially skilled at explaining complex technologies in language that everyone can understand.

AI Is Evolving So Quickly That Even the Speaker Must Keep Revising Her Slides

Discussing the latest developments in AI, Professor Lin shared an experience familiar to many technology professionals: “AI is developing so quickly that I need to revise my slides about every three months, because the content has already fallen behind.”

This was not a complaint, but an honest reflection from the front line. When technology changes from quarter to quarter, we must learn again how to grow alongside it.

Three Tables, One AI: Cross-Referencing Data, Citing Sources, and Drawing Conclusions

Professor Lin demonstrated the impressive capabilities of the latest generation of AI models. She uploaded three tables covering different topics and using different formats. The model was able to understand each table, identify key trends, compare relationships across datasets, cite the appropriate sources, and finally produce a clearly organized analytical report.

The demonstration caught the attention of many professors in the audience. AI once mainly answered questions; it can now read, compare, reason, and respond. It is becoming more than a tool—it can serve as a second brain for knowledge workers.

When Her Mother Used AI to Create a Photo, She Saw a Generation Truly Begin to Shift

Professor Lin also shared a moving story. One day, her mother sent her an AI-generated photo showing her mother together with Professor Lin and her sister. She was deeply touched. Efforts to promote AI were once often met with the response, “Leave it to the younger generation.” Today, however, AI has entered homes, workplaces, and everyday life, reaching people across generations.

Speaker 2: Chief Investment Officer Shu-Fen Cheng

Chief Investment Officer, Cathay Financial Holdings | Former President, Cathay Securities Investment Trust | 2025 TWiST Board Member

Chief Investment Officer Cheng is a highly respected figure in Taiwan’s financial sector, known for both her investment expertise and her lively, humorous speaking style. Investing may sound like a serious and rigid subject, but laughter filled the room throughout her presentation.

“When you first look at the Securities Investment Trust and Consulting Association website, imagine that you have just had your pupils dilated.”

The remark immediately drew laughter. Cheng explained that people beginning to read financial information do not need to force themselves to understand everything at once.

“Blurred vision is normal after your pupils have been dilated. Get used to it first; over time, you will gradually begin to see what matters.”

Investing is not an innate gift. It grows from familiarity and accumulated learning. By reading, comparing, and understanding more, people can earn returns through diligent study.

The Most Dangerous Investment Mindset: Envying Other People’s Profits

Cheng offered a serious reminder: “Do not envy how much other people have earned. That can easily lead you to make the decisions you will regret most.”

Investing requires looking ahead while keeping a steady mindset. Once emotions take control, impulsiveness and regret can undermine sound judgment.

From AI to Investment, and from Tools to Critical Thinking: New Strengths for Women in STEM in 2025

Although the two speakers came from different fields, their messages shared three essential ideas:

Scientific thinking is a basic survival skill in the age of AI.

Good decisions depend on data, logic, and mindset—not luck.

Women’s empowerment in technology is not only about participation; it is also about using technology and financial literacy to create value and greater agency.

Professor Lin reminded us that AI is reshaping everyone’s daily life. We do not need to wait for a new generation—we are already the generation changing the world. Cheng emphasized that financial freedom is not a talent but a practice grounded in disciplined thinking. Progress comes from adopting the right mindset and building knowledge step by step.

Turning Thought into Strength, Together

AI can make us more efficient, investment knowledge can give us greater agency, and scientific thinking enables both to create genuine value.

In an era when AI is rewriting the rules, women in STEM are not merely keeping up with technology. They are using technology and critical thinking to write new possibilities for the world. The future is not something to wait for; it is something we actively create.

Together, let us use science, thoughtful judgment, and compassionate strength to build a better future for the next generation of women.