The government's policy to foster AI talent is expanding in a direction that shifts entire university education systems to be AI-centered. At AI-centric universities, all students will be taught to use AI regardless of their major. At graduate schools, the structure is to nurture AI transformation (AX) talent that combines field expertise with AI.

The Ministry of Science and ICT on Sept. 29 held a joint launch ceremony for AI-centric universities and AX graduate schools at Yonsei University in Seoul. This year, 3 new AI-centric universities and 15 universities converted from existing software-focused universities were selected. Fifteen universities are participating in AX graduate schools.

Students learn AI regardless of major as universities overhaul education systems

The two programmes target different types of talent and use different teaching methods, but they share the goal of reorganising university education around AI.

A core of the AI-centric university programme is to take AI education beyond the boundaries of related departments. While strengthening AI major education, it will also mandate basic AI education for all students. It will also create new interdisciplinary courses that link each major with AI, so even non-majors can be trained to use AI in their fields.

For example, students with expertise in business, medicine, mechanical engineering, or the humanities and social sciences may not develop AI models themselves. They are to develop the capability to define problems and design solutions using AI. A Ministry of Science and ICT official said, "The goal is to drive AI innovation across the entire school centered on the university president."

The government will provide 3 billion won a year for up to 8 years per AI-centric university. Next year it also plans to pursue a full conversion of 38 software-focused universities that have not yet transitioned, after evaluations, into AI-centric universities. The idea is to rapidly spread AI education across higher education overall, rather than limiting it to some leading universities or specific departments.

AX graduate schools are tailored to industry by combining AI and field knowledge

AX graduate schools aim to nurture advanced talent for the field by combining AI technology with industry and domain knowledge. The ministry has operated its AI graduate school programme since 2019. While existing AI graduate schools put more weight on fostering advanced research talent with capabilities in AI core-technology research, AX graduate schools place emphasis on fostering interdisciplinary talent that solves field problems by combining industry and domain knowledge with AI. The 15 universities selected as AX graduate schools this year will receive 3 billion won a year for up to 6 years.

Corporate participation is also high. Twenty-six companies, including Samsung Electronics, Hanwha Aerospace, POSCO Holdings and Doosan Robotics, will participate as joint research and development institutions. Universities and companies will jointly set up AX research cooperation centres and run a multiple-adviser system in which university faculty and adjunct corporate faculty jointly supervise students, as well as student-led project-based learning.

Each university has a different mix of participating companies. Yonsei University teamed up with Samsung Electronics and Wonik IPS, Changwon National University with Hanwha Aerospace, Pohang University of Science and Technology with POSCO Holdings and Neuromeka, and Hanyang University ERICA with Doosan Robotics and MAUM AI. Companies from various sectors, including semiconductors, defence, steel and robotics, will participate in a structure that reflects field demand in education and research.

Policy expands beyond AI core talent to application and interdisciplinary talent

The ministry's latest policy is a change that broadens AI talent development to all undergraduates and the industrial field. In the past, it focused on advanced researchers through AI graduate schools and on expanding the AI and software education base through software-focused universities. Going forward, greater weight is placed on making AI utilisation ability a universal competency at the undergraduate level and building a system at the graduate level that combines it with industrial expertise.

On the day, the council of AI and software-focused universities and the council of AI graduate schools, which includes AI and AX graduate schools, declared joint cooperation between AI-centric universities and AI and AX graduate schools. The aim is to expand educational exchanges from undergraduate to master's and doctoral programmes and to regularise inter-university cooperation by region.

The role of regional universities is also growing. Of the 18 AI-centric universities, 11 are outside the Seoul metropolitan area, accounting for 61 percent. Of the 15 AX graduate schools, 8, or 53 percent, are outside the metropolitan area. The government plans to raise the share of non-metropolitan universities to at least 70 percent among newly selected universities from 2027. The aim is to reduce the concentration of AI talent and companies in the metropolitan area while training locally the people who will link regional key industries with AI.

Ryu Je-myung (류제명), the ministry's second vice minister, said, "I hope AI-centric universities and AX graduate schools will establish themselves as hubs for AI education innovation that spans universities and graduate schools, universities and industry, and the metropolitan and non-metropolitan areas."