On July 18th, 2025, at the invitation of the Information Management Program of the Department of Management Science and Engineering, East China University of Science and Technology (ECUST), Professor LIANG Huigang from the University of Memphis delivered a lecture entitled Pandora’s Box Opened: A Global Analysis of ChatGPT’s Impact on AI Incidents to faculty and students of the School of Business. The lecture was hosted by Associate Professor PENG Zeyu from the Information Management Program. Professor LI Jia, Professor MA Ling, Associate Professor LIU Xuan, Dr. WANG Zeli (all from ECUST), Associate Professor XU Haifeng from Antai College of Economics and Management, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, and Professor XUE Yajiong from East Carolina University (USA), together with some doctoral students, attended the lecture.

In his lecture, Professor Liang focused on expounding the negative impacts brought by generative artificial intelligence (such as ChatGPT). He also reported the empirical research conducted by his team using the Difference-in-Differences (DID) method based on large-scale panel data covering 126 countries over 82 months (from January 2018 to October 2024). The study found that the open access to ChatGPT significantly increased the incidence of AI security incidents in the accessing countries, while a country’s AI R&D investment and institutional quality could effectively mitigate this negative effect. This pioneering research is the first to confirm the causal relationship between generative AI and AI security incidents, providing important implications for global AI governance. It emphasizes that it is necessary to address the new risks brought by AI technology by strengthening investment in AI infrastructure, improving institutional supervision, and promoting international cooperation. Faculty and students had in-depth exchanges with Professor Liang on topics such as research methods and policy recommendations.

In the Q&A session, Professor Liang gave detailed answers to questions regarding the classification of ChatGPT access types, the measurement of research variables, and the construction of the theoretical framework.

LIANG Huigang is the FedEx Distinguished Chair Professor of Information Systems at the Fogelman College of Business and Economics, University of Memphis, USA. His research interests include social behavior, management, and strategic information technology issues at the individual and organizational levels in various contexts. Professor Liang’s current research focuses on artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, and healthcare information technology. His research findings have been published in top international journals such as MIS Quarterly, Information Systems Research, Journal of MIS, Journal of the Association for Information Systems (JAIS), MIT Sloan Management Review, Communications of the ACM, Decision Support Systems, Information Systems Journal, and Journal of Strategic Information Systems. Currently, he serves as a Senior Editor of JAIS and an Associate Editor of Information Systems Research (ISR). His research has been funded by FedEx, the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH), and the Sloan Foundation.