Dongguk University to open AI graduate school by Fall semester

Convergent education and research on medicine, arts, social sciences, and engineering in the works

“The similarity between Buddhism and AI is that both improve the quality of life”

“The Fourth Industrial Revolution will be an era led by cutting-edge intelligent information technology, and technology-based intelligent information is the core competency needed to guide it. The Artificial Intelligence (AI) Department will carry out education and research on health and medicine, cultural contents, security and administration, and engineering with the goal of nurturing talent grounded in intelligent information competency to lead and achieve innovation across society.”

Dongguk University (President: Yoon Sung-yee) has chosen to specialize in data, networks, and AI, and will open a department of AI studies in its Graduate School. The department aims to offer master’s and doctoral programs from the Fall semester of the 2020 academic year. “The AI department’s objective is to nurture AI experts who can meet the demands of the Fourth Industrial Revolution and future industries in the field,” said Prof. Kim Jee-hee, explaining that the department will “evolve into a professional educational institution that fosters highly-qualified talents and builds a leading model of industry-academia cooperation through convergence with various academic fields like health and medicine, arts and culture, social sciences, and engineering.”

The AI department will offer specialties in intelligent health and medicine, intelligent arts and culture, intelligent security and administration, and intelligent engineering. Recently, the health and medical sector has witnessed improvements in the precision and effectiveness of prediction, diagnosis, and prognosis analysis through the application of information technology. The intelligent health and medicine specialty involves conducting research on the convergence of AI with health, senior care, and medical services and engineering, focusing on intelligent information-based life care that helps maintain health in daily life.

There are also active efforts under way in the field of humanities and social sciences to solve various problems through the application of AI. The intelligent arts and culture specialty entails the study of the convergence of AI with languages, Buddhism, film, theater, arts, and other subjects in the humanities and social sciences, and also involves conducting research that can help strengthen the cultural contents industry. Diverse research is also being conducted by applying AI to digital governance, intelligent administration, and other fields of administration and law. The intelligent security and administration specialty involves conducting AI convergence research, as required in the fields of administration, law, and security.

Prof. Kim Jee-hee

The intelligent engineering specialty focuses on studying the basic fields of technology such as deep learning, big data, Internet of Things (IoT), security, extended reality, robots, drones, and data science, and converging these with various fields like architecture, civil engineering, electronic engineering, electrical engineering, machinery, energy, bio-engineering, and chemical engineering. It pursues the convergence of AI with IoT-based smart industries.

“The convergence of traditional academic disciplines with AI can stimulate strengths and compensate for weaknesses, thereby boosting the capacities of the students and the university,” Prof. Kim Jee-hee said, explaining that “the practice of Buddhist Zen is effective in calming the mind and reducing stress. There are ongoing discussions on convergence in various academic fields, including the combination of Buddhist practice with the medical sector through AI to create new disciplines.”

Prof. Kim also said, “The similarity between Buddhism and AI is that both improve the quality of life,” adding that she “vow[s] to contribute to improving our society, relying on the convergence of Buddhism’s rich and varied content with various fields through AI.”

Prof. Kim earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees at Seoul National University, and a doctoral degree at the University of Southern California in the United States. She has served as President of the Korean Computer Scientists and Engineers Association in America, head of KT’s Future Technology Research Lab, director of Samsung Electronics’ AI Lab, and a committee member of the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning’s convergence technology development business division.