Hosting of 2022 Seoul Science and Technology (S&T) Forum

The 2022 Seoul S&T Forum was hosted by the National Research Council of Science & Technology (NST; Chairperson: Bok-Chul Kim), the Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST; President: Seok-Jin Yoon), and the Science and Technology Policy Institute (STEPI; President: Mi-Ock Mun) at the Plaza Hotel in Seoul on October 31st. The forum was held under the theme of “AI’s Role in the Future Transformation of Science and Technology,” and brought together domestic and foreign experts from the government, research institutions, universities, and corporate enterprises. The event aimed to explore AI-based R&D knowledge and its development.

Keynote speeches were given by Martial Hebert, Dean and Professor of the Robotics Institute School of Computer Science at Carnegie Mellon University, and In-So Kweon, Professor of the School of Electrical Engineering at KAIST, who discussed the performance and development plans for Deep Learning AI models in science and technology.

Session I of the event featured three presentations, on the topics of Naver’s hyperscale AI applications, AI and future job and labor issues, and assessing trustworthy AI in practice. Following the presentations, a panel discussion and Q&A session with the audience took place.

During Session II, the topics of AI advances and challenges, the AI-driven paradigm shift of materials R&D, and advancing health through technological innovation and AI were explored. And an in-depth panel discussion covering all three aforementioned topics and Q&A session were conducted.

In his opening remarks, Bok-Chul Kim, the Chairperson of NST, said, “AI is being applied to every field and creating a whole new world by making fundamental changes to human life and industry.” He also remarked that we ultimately are not certain about the future risks and benefits of AI at this point, and that this forum would provide us with more in-depth insights on living in the era of digital transformation.

In the welcoming remarks, Seok-Jin Yoon, the president of KIST, stated, “By using artificial intelligence in the R&D field, it is possible to break down the existing limitations on common sense and preconceptions to make rapid development in science and technology achievable. I hope that this forum can serve as a guide for the future of Korea by giving us opportunities to share our perspectives on the impacts and outcomes of R&D using AI.”

Mi-Ock Mun, the President of STEPI, emphasized, “We should take the lead in increasing the value of human labor and, ultimately, the value of life by embedding trust in our actions and judgments while overcoming the vague fear that AI will cause a reduction in jobs.”

Sukmin Kwon, Director-General of the S&T Commercialization and Job Creation Policy Bureau at the Ministry of Science and ICT, stressed that “The Korean government is striving to secure so-called super-difference technologies in the six major digital innovation technology areas, and will support the digitalization of research institutes to improve research efficiency that combines AI technology with their respective specialized areas.” in his congratulatory remarks.

Now in its 9th year, the Seoul S&T Forum began with the G20 Summit held in Seoul in 2010. The forum was sponsored by the Ministry of Science and ICT (Minister: Jong-Ho Lee), hosted by NST, and organized by KIST and STEPI.

You can check out http://www.sstforum.com/ for more information about the forum.