South Korea's National AI Strategic Committee on Tuesday held a seminar hosted by its Science Talent Subcommittee, inviting Lee Kyung-soo, vice chair of the National Science and Technology Advisory Council, on the theme of the U.S. Genesis Mission.

The Genesis Mission, discussed at the seminar held under the theme "A new dawn of scientific innovation in the AI era", is a U.S. federal government project that uses AI as a core engine for scientific research to accelerate science and industrial innovation.

Lee on Tuesday stressed the complementary roles of AI and nuclear fusion technology. He is a global expert in nuclear fusion, having served as deputy director-general for technology at the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) and as head of the Science and Technology Innovation Headquarters at the Ministry of Science and ICT.

Lee assessed that AI speeds up nuclear fusion commercialisation, while nuclear fusion supplies the vast clean energy essential to run AI, allowing the two technologies to offset each other's limitations.

Seminar participants agreed with discussions that AI should drive integrated changes in how science and technology are discovered, how industries compete, and even energy supply and security systems. They also agreed it should be raised beyond the level of an industrial policy into a top-level national operating strategy that moves science and technology, energy, industry and security together.

Im Moon-young, standing vice chair of the National AI Strategic Committee, said the committee would actively review and identify tasks that can accelerate South Korea's advanced scientific innovation with AI, based on the methods and implications shown by the Genesis Mission, and consider reflecting them in the National AI Action Plan.

The seminar was livestreamed on YouTube. The committee plans to make all future committee-hosted seminars and forums public through livestreaming and other methods. It will also disclose all meetings hosted by plenary sessions, subcommittees, special committees and task force teams through minutes, recordings and other formats via its website and official YouTube channel.