Go player Lee Sedol, 9th dan, has been appointed as a special professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology.
UNIST announced on the 16th that Lee Sedol has been appointed as a special professor for a three-year term. UNIST explained that the goal is to create synergy in research capabilities and educational innovation by integrating artificial intelligence and Go.
This special professor will lead a class titled "Board Game Production for Scientists with Professor Lee Sedol" in collaboration with Professor Lee Kang-Soo from the Department of Mechanical Engineering during the first semester of this year. This course is designed to utilize Lee Sedol’s experience in producing Go-based board games for the education of UNIST students. Students interested in board game production will participate for one year, receiving direct mentoring from this professor to produce results.
Professor Lee Sedol said, "I want to share the experience of combining scientific thinking and creativity with students through board games."
This professor proved the potential for collaboration between humans and artificial intelligence by winning one match against the Google AI program AlphaGo in 2016. This incident made the impacts of AI technology on industry and society tangible, emphasizing the importance of advanced technologies.
The official inauguration ceremony will be held on the 20th. On the same day, Professor Lee Sedol will deliver a congratulatory message to graduates during the degree conferment ceremony. On the 24th, he will conduct a leadership lecture based on his experiences with AI Go for about 500 new undergraduate students for the 2025 academic year.