PeopleofSuperintelligence

Researcher

Yew-Kwang Ng

Also known as 黄有光, Ng Yew Kwang

Yew-Kwang Ng is an economist known for welfare economics, whose 2023 paper in AI & Society asked whether artificial intelligence could have consciousness. He earned a Bachelor of Commerce at Nanyang University in 1966 and a PhD at the University of Sydney in 1971, then held a personal chair in economics at Monash University from 1985 to 2012. Along the way he wrote the book Mesoeconomics in 1986, proposed welfare biology in 1995, became a Distinguished Fellow of the Economic Society of Australia in 2007, and served on the advisory board of Oxford's Global Priorities Institute from 2018 to 2023. His AI paper argues that findings in neurology and parapsychology make machine consciousness much less likely. He is an emeritus professor of economics at Monash University and an honorary professor at Peking University.

Born
1942
Badges

Years link to their sources.

Timeline

  1. 1965–1971

    From Nanyang to a Sydney PhD

    He publishes a single-authored paper in the Journal of Political Economy as an undergraduate in 1965. He earns a Bachelor of Commerce from Nanyang University in 1966 and a PhD from the University of Sydney in 1971.

  2. 1981–2007

    Two Australian honours

    He becomes a Fellow of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia in 1981. In 2007, he receives the Distinguished Fellow award of the Economic Society of Australia.

  3. 1985–2012

    Personal chair at Monash

    He is professor of economics at Monash University from 1985 to 2012, working in welfare economics. His book Mesoeconomics: A Micro-Macro Analysis appears in 1986, and in 1995 he proposes welfare biology as a field of research.

  4. 2013–2020

    Chairs at NTU and Fudan

    He holds the Winsemius Chair in economics at Nanyang Technological University from 2013 to 2019. From July 2019 to December 2020, he is Special Chair Professor at the School of Economics at Fudan University in Shanghai.

  5. 2018–2023

    Oxford lecture and advisory board

    He delivers the inaugural Atkinson Memorial Lecture at Oxford University in 2018 and serves on the advisory board of Oxford's Global Priorities Institute from 2018 to 2023. In 2020, he publishes a paper on the implications of the theory of the second best for effective altruism.

  6. 2023

    A paper on AI consciousness

    He publishes "Could artificial intelligence have consciousness? Some perspectives from neurology and parapsychology" in AI & Society in 2023. The paper argues that findings in neurology and parapsychology support a non-materialistic answer to the mind–body problem, which makes machine consciousness much less likely and perhaps impossible, and it suggests focusing on making AI less costly and more useful to society.

  7. 2025

    Peking University award and gift

    Peking University gives him its Award for Outstanding Educational Contribution in 2025. He also contributes more than ten million Chinese yuan, about US$1.5 million, to its School of Economics in 2025 to help establish a scholarship.

  8. As of October 2026

    Emeritus professor at Monash

    He is an emeritus professor of economics at Monash University and an honorary professor at the School of Economics, Peking University.

Career

  1. Since 1985Monash UniversityProfessor of economics
  2. NowPeking UniversityHonorary professor
  3. 2019–2020Fudan UniversitySpecial Chair Professor
  4. 2018–2023University of OxfordAdvisory board member
  5. 2013–2019Nanyang Technological UniversityWinsemius Chair in economics

Education

  1. 1971University of SydneyPhD
  2. 1966Nanyang UniversityBachelor of Commerce

From the biography.

Videos

YouTube videos in which Yew-Kwang Ng speaks or appears, newest first. A model chose them from YouTube search results. List updated 21 October 2026.

  1. #38 - Prof Ng on anticipating effective altruism decades ago & how to make a much happier world80,000 Hours · 4 October 2018 · 2 h

Video data from YouTube API Services. By watching you agree to the YouTube Terms of Service. How we use YouTube data.

  1. The median h-index is 48 at universities and 14 at frontier AI labsIncludes Peking University. The median h-index is 48 at universities and 14 at frontier AI labs. We compare publishing careers, recent citations, dual appointments and job moves across 2,420 university researchers and 308 frontier-lab researchers.
  2. The company share of AI researchers’ top papers was 31% in 2020–2024 and 8% in 1970–1974Includes Peking University. We estimate where the people shaping AI worked when their most-cited papers appeared: the company share was 31% in 2020–2024 and 8% in 1970–1974, and Google led all organizations in 2020–2024.
  3. Companies supply the most prior-work hires at 7 of the 9 frontier AI labsIncludes Peking University. Our estimates of the organizations where 550 people worked directly before joining 9 frontier AI labs across 620 career transitions, comparing the main feeder organizations per lab.
  4. More people shaping AI studied at Massachusetts Institute of Technology than at any other institutionIncludes Peking University. We estimate where the people shaping AI studied and where their careers led. Massachusetts Institute of Technology leads with 467 former students, including 291 recorded doctorates.

Colleagues

People with dated positions at the same organization in the same years.

Sources and credits

Photo: We have no published photo of Yew-Kwang Ng yet. Send us a free-licensed photo.

  1. Yew-Kwang Ng - Wikipedia en.wikipedia.org. Checked 20 October 2026.
  2. Yew-Kwang Ng - Department of Economics, Monash University, Australia | Open Access Government openaccessgovernment.org. Checked 20 October 2026.
  3. Yew-Kwang Ng - Monash University research.monash.edu. Checked 20 October 2026.
  4. Professor Yew-Kwang Ng Home Page users.monash.edu.au. Checked 20 October 2026.
  5. Professor Ng Yew Kwang - Fifteen Eighty Four | Cambridge University Press cambridgeblog.org. Checked 20 October 2026.
  6. Could artificial intelligence have consciousness? Some perspectives from neurology and parapsychology - Monash University research.monash.edu. Checked 20 October 2026.