Rencently, the concert of “A Sympbony of Age and Vitality” was held by the World Ethics Institute Beijing of Peking University.The concert marked the official launch of the Al Applied Ethics (AlAE) program at the World Ethics Institute of Peking University.

This event centers on the theme of aging and dignified eldercare, bringing together thoughtful dialogue and musical performance to inspire broader engagement with the humanistic dimensions of an aging society.

The core missions of the AlAE program is to reflect on Confucian ethics in the face of a deepening crisis of filial piety in aging societies, now further complicated by the inescapable reality of artificial intelligence.

In a recent AlAE-related seminar at the German Department of Peking University, they examined case studies on ageing in Duisburg, Germany. The research focused on elderly individuals completely disconnected from human contact. In one case, it took 137 days before it was discovered that an elderly woman had died. This tragedy is not confined to Germany. Across societies, milions of elderly people are left behind, and filial piety risks becoming empty rhetoric. AlAE's research and teaching aim to respond by cultivating a genuinely compassionate heart-mind, capable of addressing real human suffering.

As a launching ceremony, the concert invited scholars to reflect on Al ethics through concrete social concerns, especially elderly care in contemporary China. The AlAE program situates this reflection within the ethical framework of Zhang Zai's (1020-1077) four-sentence maxim, which Tu Weiming - in his keynote "Historical Consciousness and Cultural Identity" at the Macau Ricci Institute on 1 December 2005 -described as decisively Mencian in spirit:

To establish the heart-mind for Heaven and Earth

To establish the destiny for all people

To continue the interrupted learning of the sages

To bring peace to all under Heaven

The ethical refections of the event were embodied through music. Pianist Matthias Fletzberger performed pieces from Mozart, Schubert, and Mendelssohn. His performance revealedthe depth of an artist shaped by life-moments of confusion, suffering, sweetness, and hope unfolding with quiet maturity.Jakob Steinkellner, on button accordion, performed his own works Sunnseitn and Denkwechsel, bringing the audience into the joyful atmosphere of Austrian festivity.

To conclude, Prof. Stephan Rothlin, Director of AlAE, performeda selection from Béla Bartók's 15 Hungarian Peasant Songs, commemorating historically disadvantaged peoples and connecting all present through compassion and goodwill.