WITH THE rising significance of Artificial Intelligence (AI), universities worldwide are set on familiarizing their students with AI’s innovative technology, and Yonsei University has not hesitated to do so itself. On April 28, 2021, the university announced the 2022 admission plans for its newly established undergraduate Artificial Intelligence major under the College of Artificial Intelligence Convergence. 

How it came to be

   Yonsei University established its graduate school of AI in 2019, and three years later, it decided to open the major at the undergraduate level. In an interview with The Yonsei Annals, the Department Chair of the AI undergraduate major, Kim Seon-joo (Prof., Dept. of AI), stated that “Korea is already one of the leading countries in the AI industry, and our school’s goal is to foster even more talented students to partake in it.” Yonsei is determined to hone local talent and boost Korea’s stance among the AI giants, leveling up to frontrunners like the United States. Accordingly, the AI department has been focused on gathering the necessary funds to create a fulfilling education environment for its students. The Ministry of Science and ICT (MSIT) started to invest in AI education by granting selected universities ₩19 billion each[1]. The MSIT recognized Yonsei’s AI major’s potential and selected it as a recipient of the financial grant. Alongside Yonsei, the chosen universities receive ₩1 billion in their first year, followed by ₩2 billion in consecutive years[1]. Yonsei’s AI major also receives funds from the government’s AI Research & Development Strategy, a ₩2.2 trillion program announced in 2018, which invests in six selected AI graduate schools[2]. As one of the few universities to receive this financial aid, the funding acts as a warrant for Yonsei’s well-structured curriculum for its AI major. 

Yonsei’s AI major track

   To achieve the ambitious goal of the AI major, Yonsei selected the best-qualified professors for its students. The school’s current AI graduate professors have published an average of 31.1 SCI-level[3] research papers over the past five years. In addition to affiliated professors of the AI major, professors from 14 different school departments offer courses that merge with content on AI. The involvement of various departments fosters an organic integration of AI technology into multiple fields; AI technology can be more effectively utilized when incorporated into various other disciplines. According to Professor Kim, that is exactly why so many professors from different departments are involved; "almost all of the professors are researching AI.” Information must be collected from multiple fields in order for AI’s big data to be valuable.

   On par with the meticulous faculty selection, student admission is highly selective. Admissions look for students who can innovatively utilize AI to solve problems, develop integrated thinking, converge research skills, and independently create startups. Professor Kim sees creativity as key: “one of the biggest advantages of computer science and AI is that we can deviate from the laws of physics and create anything we imagine,” he explains. He also emphasizes the need for AI major students to stay curious and adopt new ways of thinking. The school encourages students to dream big and aspire to be the next Steve Jobs or Mark Zuckerberg, deviating from the conventional route of joining an Information Technology (IT) company. 

   The spring semester will start with a total of 20 undergraduate students—15 students from early decision and five from regular decision. According to Professor Kim, the AI major’s admission cycle for the upcoming spring semester was an unexpected success, as the major received unrivaled interest compared to other College of Engineering’s majors. Recognizing this demand, the AI department plans to increase the student enrollment quota up to 34 next year. Although student enrollment is up to the government and school administration to decide, Professor Kim disclosed that the major is even thinking of opening its double major program to more students. The expansion will be followed by the establishment of the new College of Artificial Intelligence Convergence, which both the AI major and Computer Science major will be part of.

   Incoming students will be taught by the major’s very comprehensive course curriculum. Relevant major undergraduate students will first participate in introductory classes such as Computer Programming, where they will learn the basics of software before being introduced to Yonsei’s AI Core education. Once students build a solid foundation in software knowledge, they can choose between courses that tackle various domains within the field of AI, including machine learning, natural language processing, and computer vision. Apart from classes, students have access to newly renovated research and education centers. They can use the 3,966 square meters—approximately the size of an athletic running track inside a stadium—AI data center. The school also provides internship opportunities, sending students to global companies to gain hands-on experience. The AI graduate school plans to develop programs where students can conduct joint research at top universities, including M.I.T. and Stanford, and intern at leading companies such as Google, Facebook, and Samsung Electronics[4]. After obtaining invaluable experiences, AI major students can seek a job position as a data scientist, developer, or a machine learning expert.

The AI major’s outlook

   While the university is making efforts to provide the best learning environment during the pandemic, students are concerned whether online courses would suffice. The National Academy of Engineering of Korea released the results of a survey on the effectiveness and satisfaction of online classes in which responses from 1,688 students and 254 professors at engineering colleges were recorded[5]. The survey results showed that 59.3% of the students prefer offline classes, and it also showed a higher number of students suffering from poor concentration compared to last year[5]. When asked about which evaluation method is more desirable, 39.2% chose offline tests while only 15% chose online tests[5]. In response to students’ concerns, Professor Kim explained that despite obvious limitations, “the AI major is relatively less affected by the pandemic situation compared to others.” For him, other events during online education are more worrisome, such as welcoming the major’s first undergraduate batch through the screens during hybrid learning. Still, he remains optimistic as a lot of the calculations and deep learning can easily be done with computers at home. Since the AI course will be conducted with only 20 students in each class, they should receive help without much difficulty. Professor Kim has high hopes that the school will do its best to teach students essential basic software and cultivate convergence education in AI while utilizing the technology available at hand.

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   Yonsei’s AI undergraduate major is initiating its fresh start this March, and it is up to professors and students to pave the way regarding the university’s role in the AI industry. In ten years, Professor Kim hopes for Yonsei’s AI major to grow to be one of its best in the world with MSIT’s funding and students’ enthusiasm and talent.

[1] Tech Daily

[2] The Diplomat

[3] SCI (Science Citation Index): Research papers using this index are known to be some of the world’s leading science journals due to their strict selection process.

[4] Yonsei News

[5] Yonhap News Agency