Technion President Uri Sivan: The Role of Academia in Israel's Future

Prof. Uri Sivan, President of the Technion - Israel Institute of Technology, evaluated the vital importance of the academic and high-tech worlds for Israel's resilience in a journey spanning from rocket defense systems to artificial intelligence.

The Resilience and Mission of Academia

Technion President Prof. Uri Sivan stated that despite war and extraordinary pressures, Israeli academia and the high-tech sector continue to produce innovation.

Emphasizing that the campus in Haifa is the only university in the world defended by technology developed by its own graduates, Sivan noted that this situation stems from a deep sense of mission.

Future Technologies and Education

Sivan argued that achieving success is less about predicting the next big step and more about building the foundations that will enable those steps to be taken.

He conveyed that the university focuses on mathematics, physics, and engineering in order to prepare students not for their first jobs, but for lifelong careers.

Thought and Knowledge in the Age of Artificial Intelligence

Stating that artificial intelligence is a completely different revolution that touches the essence of human existence, Sivan warned that having information as close as a prompt could transform human learning.

He voiced concern that instantly accessible answers could risk the mental effort people need to exert in order to attain knowledge.

Social Division and Message of Unity

Sivan noted that science and technology should serve society rather than exist for their own sake, and that his greatest concern is social fragmentation.

He emphasized that his primary wish for the new year is to find ways of living together by focusing on shared challenges despite disagreements.