Education of Sogang in the era of 

the 4th Industrial Revolution

© Shutterstock

Last April, the Ministry of Science and ICT (MSIT)¹ announced the list of selected schools in the AI graduate school grant project², and Sogang was dropped from the project. Upon hearing the news, Sogangers raised the issue through the university community website regarding whether Sogang education is appropriate amid the fourth Industrial Revolution. Students pointed out that both the undergraduate and postgraduate curriculums are insufficient to meet the needs of future industries. In this situation where the government’s projects have been one of the primary sources of funds, the failure of receiving approval from the government will inevitably be an obstacle in strengthening the AI field. The Sogang Herald will delve into the current educational capability of Sogang in the AI field through the interview with Jung Moon-ryul (Prof., Dept. of Art & Technology) and seek the future of Sogang’s AI capabilities. 

The Importance of AI Capability in University 

AI technology refers to computer SoftWare (SW) that artificially implements human learning, reasoning, and perception. It is also one of the central technologies in the era of the fourth Industrial Revolution. AI technology has great educational value as scientific technology itself. Also, it can be utilized in various fields, which has made it a key course in SW-focused university trends. This AI education has gained its significance in university education as the industrial field has been struggling with the lack of personnel. In fact, the industry requires so much talent that there was even a prediction that there would be a demand of 14,000 AI and SW labor forces by 2022. Considering this circumstance of the AI industry, the government declared the Digital New Deal as one of the government’s top priorities and came up with a plan to train 100,000 core talents in the field of AI and SW. The AI graduate school support project which provides a great number of subsidies in AI education and R&D was also a part of this policy. Once selected as a part of the AI graduate school program, a university can receive up to one billion won this year and two billion won starting next year–a total of nine billion over five years. With future evaluation, schools can receive up to 19 billion won in funding for further development of the AI field over ten years. This advantage attracted many universities, including Sogang, which needs significant investment to renovate the AI education system. 

   This was not the first time that the MSIT designated government-funded AI graduate schools. MSIT has designated 12 universities as government-financed AI graduate schools in total since the latter half of 2019. Unfortunately, MSIT announced that there would be no additional selection of funded AI graduate schools unless there is a special reason, which makes it even harder to lay the financial foundations for strengthening AI capability. 

   Then why was Sogang eliminated from the project? Seoul National University and Chung-Ang University, the two universities that won this project, have both proposed plans to expand their full-time faculties and to establish AI-focused research complexes and/or specialized curricula. In comparison, Sogang’s efforts did not rise to the occasion. Prof. Jung commented on this issue, saying “Sogang has also invested a significant amount of work into securing new faculty and constructing a well-systemized AI curriculum. If the University Headquarters³ had been able to hold an active discussion regarding the significance of this academic program and created an official preparation task force backed with the consensus of the Sogangers, Sogang would have been able to apply from the very first selection process. Even if Sogang did not make it to the top three during the first selection, such readiness would have allowed us to be better prepared for the second, third and forth selection processes. I believe that Sogang’s financial status made it difficult for HQ to move forward with funding one designated field of study.” While Sogang lacks government assistance, The Sogang Herald hopes Sogangers also take a look at what the school has worked on to strengthen AI capability and make up for the loss. 

Sogang’s Current Efforts to Meet the AI Demand 

Sogang has tried a variety of approaches to equip AI capabilities. One is running the AI interdisciplinary major, which aims to foster AI specialists who will help navigate the rapidly changing circumstances of the fourth Industrial Revolution. This is done through AI technology which focuses on a curriculum that involves intensive lectures about deep learning and AI engineering. Prof. Jung explained, “Unlike the Convergence Software course that Sogang has operated, the AI interdisciplinary major extends its subject into broader studies such as the study of graphic structure⁴ and matrix⁵. To be more specific, the AI interdisciplinary major provides a variety of applied AI subjects from AI basic theory to the applied studies on the basis of business administration, economics, media, art and technology.” 

▶ The building of Adam Schall, one of the Sogang’s buildings.

© Photographed by Hong Chae-won

   In addition, Sogang is operating an AI Institute that concentrates on developing AI technology and fostering research personnel. To increase human resemblance in AI, researchers at the institute are conducting research regarding human cognition based upon the compound intelligence comprising language, hearing, vision, and emotions. They are planning to dive further into the area of behavioral intelligence and intelligent agents. The institute is currently looking to specialize its research through three phases of R&D the Growth, Take Off, and Maturation–finally aiming to have the research institute reach world-class standards and stimulate industry transfers based on joint research with local industries. 

   As well as training professionals in the AI field, Sogang has also put its effort into encouraging all students to equip AI knowledge regardless of their majors. Sogang has presented compulsory introduction courses up until last year, “Computing Thinking Skills⁶” which instructs the computer language Python used for AI development. It targets both the liberal arts and engineering students to enhance their sense of AI knowledge evenly. Furthermore, Sogang has tried to appoint more faculties from the AI field in various majors. Before the beginning of the first semester of 2021, Sogang posted the appointment of AI professionals in the Department of Art & Technology, which does not belong to the engineering faculty. As for the Business and Administration major, Sogang also provides an AI & Big Data Innovation course through its MBA course. 

   To further strengthen the AI capability of Sogang, the Sogang Committee of Development⁷ is also considering establishing a Department of AI⁸, discussed at the presidential meeting in April. Although specific plans for establishing a new Department of AI are yet undecided, the Committee of Development aims to strengthen the AI knowledge of both natural science and humanities students. On this decision, Prof. Jung commented, “Establishing the Department of AI is a good trial in a strategic way. Both Computer Engineering and AI interdisciplinary major that already exists in Sogang focus on technology. Therefore, the establishment of the Department of AI is expected to apply AI technology in liberal arts, and collect, analyze, and solve the data from the involved field. Development in that way would further be advantageous to win external research projects and add depth and breadth to the convergence education of Sogang. Applying AI graduate school financing project roots for the same purpose. It is not solely to secure the funding, but it is also the way that Sogang education has to go through. Establishment of the AI department is the first step to take.” Despite what the establishment of a Department of AI signifies, the issue should be handled in a prudent approach considering the existing problems which will be discussed in the latter part of the article. 

Hurdles in the Way of AI Advancement 

Many losses came from the failure to be re-designated as a SW-focused university, but the biggest damage yet is losing the opportunity to become involved in industry-academic cooperation and overseas research projects. While Sogang has been carrying out research projects in cooperation with participating companies, it pales in comparison to the steady research collaboration projects with foreign and domestic corporations of SW-focused universities. In addition, fostering AI expertise only through the AI interdisciplinary major programs that Sogang currently provides will prove to be considerably difficult. It is because the SW-focused curricula create an academic environment focused on teaching practical skills that will open up many doors for students going into the job market and establishing start-ups. 

   There are pre-existing problems within the system as well. Prof. Jung pointed out the shortage of staff and infrastructure, commenting that “If an increased number of students chooses to attend lectures about AI, the current school infrastructure and staff would not be able to handle the demand.” However, he still encouraged students to seek out classes offered by the AI interdisciplinary major and maintain a positive outlook. “When talking with the graduates, they say the majority of the individual and business activities happen based on mobile applications, which build on the technology of machine learning. It is said the history of mobile applications divides before and after the ‘Deep Learning Revolution.’ The graduates also said that even the MD or service directors in the enterprises are asked to have ‘coding literacy’ to communicate with engineers. Since ‘coding literacy’ is not limited to either liberal arts or engineering, Sogangers can have coding literacy’ ability with no regard to their original majors. If every single student of Sogang, regardless of their major, can develop and utilize AI programs, it will accelerate Sogang’s progress and allow us to gain supremacy. For this to become a reality, numerous majors need to bring in professors associated with the AI field and practice in-depth interdisciplinary education, something Sogang is pursuing.” 

   In addition to Sogang’s shortcomings, Prof. Jung mentioned  that there needs to be a change in the ways students approach and engage in studying AI. “The current AI interdisciplinary curriculum offers a variety of lectures that cross into different disciplines, all taught by exemplary professors. However, I feel that students tend to take the safer options and are quite reluctant to take risks in their area of studies. If they can go through the AI interdisciplinary major armed with enthusiasm and want for the challenge, they will be able to combine their major studies with AI and venture into new fields of work.” 

   For AI and contemporary discipline to be fused into an interdisciplinary study, the participation and interest from students outside the engineering field are important. While this is necessary, the importance of building a curriculum that will train students to become professionals in the field of AI technology should also be recognized. Going forward, Sogang must find a balance between AI as an interdisciplinary study and as a specialized field. 

Sogang’s Path to Strengthening AI Capability 

   Currently, Sogang is striving to foster AI-specialized talents and provides AI convergence educational courses. Indeed, achieving a happy medium between interdisciplinary and specialized approaches will be the key to Sogang’s education in the fourth Industrial Revolution. Still, two challenges of financial investment and Soganger’s interest in AI convergence education remain. What is essential is that Sogang education in the fourth Industrial Revolution requires a change from both Sogang and Sogangers. Sogang should secure enough finances and make major investments in the AI field, while Sogangers should also steadily monitor the achievement. Finally, the path of Sogang in this changing society means keeping the original spirit of Sogang education in line with current society. The Sogang Herald looks forward to a successful balance at Sogang amid the fourth Industrial Revolution.

By Hong Chae-won, Seong Si-hyun (Cub Reporter)

codnjsh@sogang.ac.kr, turtle9158@sogang.ac.kr

1 과학기술정보통신부

2 인공지능대학원지원 사업

3 서강대학교 본부

4 그래프 구조

5 다차원 어레이 (매트릭스) 구조

6 컴퓨팅 사고력

7 서강 발전위원회

8 AI 학부