Participants pose for a group photo at the Urban AI Seminar co-hosted by the Seoul AI Foundation and MIT's Senseable City Lab. Kim Man-gi, chairman of the foundation, is ninth from the left in the front row. [Seoul AI Foundation]
Participants pose for a group photo at the Urban AI Seminar co-hosted by the Seoul AI Foundation and MIT's Senseable City Lab. Kim Man-gi, chairman of the foundation, is ninth from the left in the front row. [Seoul AI Foundation]

The Seoul AI Foundation announced Monday it will run a global AI talent program for domestic university students in Seoul this year in partnership with MIT's Senseable City Lab.

The foundation held the first-half Urban AI Seminar at the Seoul Global AI Research Institute on June 23, bringing together 50 Korean university students to hear MIT researchers present findings on applying data to a range of urban challenges.

MIT's Senseable City Lab is a world-leading research institution that studies urban change and the future of cities through sensors and data. Earlier this year, it opened the Seoul Global AI Research Institute — the lab's fourth such outpost worldwide and the first in Asia — and is pursuing joint research with the foundation in urban AI.

From July 13 to 16, the foundation held a short intensive program called a summer school, with 25 university students from Seoul National University, KAIST and Yonsei University taking part. Students worked in teams to collect and analyze data across the city and present their findings.

The foundation plans to launch a hands-on capstone internship project led by 10 students from South Korea and abroad. Participants will use Seoul Metropolitan Government data to propose solutions to urban problems.

"Building on our partnership with MIT's Senseable City Lab, we will establish a systematic educational foundation so that Seoul's university students can grow into leaders in the field of urban AI," foundation chairman Kim Man-gi said.


ken@heraldcorp.com