Service Development Practice Using 'NUGU' and 'Aibril' ... Industry-Academic Scholarship Students Also Recruited

SK Telecom announced that it has signed an agreement with Seoul National University at the university's main building to foster talent and build an ecosystem in the AI field.

First, starting from the second semester of this year (September enrollment), SK Telecom and Seoul National University will open a 'NUGU & Aibril with Watson' course in the graduate program of the Department of Electrical and Information Engineering. Seoul National University will handle theoretical lectures, while SK Telecom, SK C&C, and SK Planet will be responsible for practical lectures.

Students participating in the courses will directly develop services using SK Telecom's AI service 'NUGU' and SK C&C's AI service 'Aibril'. They will also receive knowledge and expertise gained by each company through their AI service development processes.

This is the first time in Korea that a corporation and university have jointly developed an AI practical curriculum. SK Telecom and Seoul National University expect that through this curriculum, the practical competencies of AI majors will be significantly enhanced.



SK Telecom will also recruit master's and doctoral-level industry-academic scholarship students with AI expertise by the end of July. Selected scholarship recipients will be provided with scholarship funding along with opportunities for expert mentoring and various seminars to enhance their competencies.

Lee Ho-su, Head of ICT Technology at SK Telecom, stated, "In the era of the Fourth Industrial Revolution where technological advancement and market environment changes occur rapidly, securing talent based on openness, cooperation, and sharing is essential," and added, "Based on this collaboration with Seoul National University, we will do our best to build an ecosystem in the AI field and secure national-level competitiveness."

Meanwhile, SK Telecom plans to host an 'AI Symposium' in the second half of this year to share AI technology research achievements and vision together with domestic and international AI authorities, domestic ICT companies, and startups.

SK Telecom held 'SK New ICT Vision Briefing Sessions' at six universities including Seoul National University, KAIST, Pohang University of Science and Technology, Korea University, Yonsei University, and Sogang University from April to May of this year, where it shared SK Group's AI vision and implementation status with undergraduate students majoring in AI.