Why You Should Consider Studying AI in Korea

Artificial Intelligence Specialists topped LinkedIn’s ‘2020 Emerging Jobs Report’, with 74% annual growth in demand in the past five years. With an average salary of $112,132 in the United States and a fast-paced environment, Artificial Intelligence Specialist is a desirable opportunity globally. If you are considering a career in AI and require technical education in the process, here are three reasons why you should consider studying artificial intelligence in South Korea:

Strong Foundation of Compatible/Complimentary Technologies for AI 

AI is not a stand-alone technology; its potential to transform society heavily lies in its utilization of other technologies. From automotive to Internet of Things, AI is expected to create impact in various industries and Korea is known throughout the world for its strong semiconductor, automotive, and electronics industry. It is also the world’s first country to launch 5G network, with South Korean tech giant Samsung also being the first company to unveil a 5G smartphone. Now the country is moving fast towards artificial intelligence, with the government officially declaring a paradigm shift from an IT powerhouse to an AI powerhouse through the announcement of ‘AI National Strategies’. South Korean government will spend 4.7 trillion won ($3.9 billion) on innovative sectors such as 5G, digital twins, hydrogen, and artificial intelligence in 2020, with an existing pledge to spend $22 billion by 2022 on new technologies. Like the roots beneath the ground, compatible/complimentary technologies would stabilize and further strengthen artificial intelligence advancements and Korea is a great country to witness the applications.

Global Testbed Status

“Facebook sees Korea as an important country due to its high mobile usage and the presence of global companies. This makes Korea an important testbed for Facebook.” There are more than 12,000 foreign companies in Korea. Even if Korea is unable to develop key AI technologies first, you can almost guarantee that it will be one of the first countries to experience them as many global brands consider Korea to be Asia’s key test market. Philippe Beaudoin, Co-founder of Element AI (Canadian AI company), noted that Korea has a strong track record of growth in AI adoption and that the market is crucial to the company’s Asia-Pacific business development strategies. The country is determined to keep its status as a global testbed as demonstrated with its policy changes to ensure an amicable market-entry for global fintech companies: The commitment will only attract more companies in the future. When studying artificial intelligence, you should consider the job market conditions and Korea has an ideal environment flourishing with opportunities.

AI Academic Institutes

There are five universities selected to lead the national AI Graduate program, and seven more will be selected later this year.

• KAIST: Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) launched Korea’s first MS and PhD program in Artificial Intelligence in 2019. KAIST ranks 22^nd on Top Computer Science Institutions Ranking globally and ranked 1st in Asia in ICML 2019 based on normalized number of papers.
• SKKU: Sungkyunkwan University was founded more than 600 years ago and is the oldest university in East Asia. SKKU ranked 2nd in ‘Top Global Universities in South Korea’ list.
• Korea University: Established in 1905, Korea University is one of the nation's oldest and largest universities. It ranked 5^th in ‘Best Universities in South Korea 2020’ list.
• POSTECH: Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH) ranked 1st in "100 Under 50 Young Universities" list in 2012 and 2013. It ranks 87 for QS World University Rankings 2020.
• GIST: In the 2016/2017 QS World University Rankings Result tables, Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology (GIST) ranked number two in the world in the category of citations per faculty.

There were 160,165 foreign students living in Korea in 2019, with 35,506 (22%) in graduate school programs. That’s 152% increase compared to the number of foreign graduate students in 2009 (14,066 students). The government has announced a plan to increase foreign enrolments to 200,000 by 2032 and is working hard to encourage even more students from America, Europe, and Asia to study abroad in South Korea. What’s stopping you from joining the number in 2020? Korea is an energetic, unique country and you should really consider studying artificial intelligence in South Korea.