KAIST will establish a standalone college of artificial intelligence (AI).
The Ministry of Science and ICT and KAIST said on the 12th that they recently held a KAIST board meeting and decided to establish an AI college and begin recruiting 300 students starting next year.
Under KAIST's AI college, five departments will be newly established: the School of AI, the Department of AI Computing, the Department of AI Systems, the Department of AI Transformation (AX), and the Department of AI Futures.
The Department of AI Computing plans to cultivate core AI talent capable of designing, developing, and operating the latest AI models such as Generative AI, Multimodal AI, and agentic AI through education based on AI theory, algorithms, mathematics, and systems. The Department of AI Systems will train AI hardware experts with capabilities in AI Semiconductor and AI system design and optimization through education in AI semiconductor devices and packaging, high-speed communication, power and thermal management, and AI system analysis.
The Department of AI Transformation will nurture application-oriented, cross-disciplinary talent that solves industrial and social problems based on data and content AI, physics and manufacturing AI, bio and materials AI, and AI sustainability. The Department of AI Futures will cultivate talent to lead the establishment of national foundational AI social strategies and a sweeping AI transformation across society, the economy, and policy through education on the social impacts of AI technology, data and algorithm ethics, AI policy and institutions, the AI economy, and AI governance.
KAIST will start with 20 full-time faculty members, five per department, and plans to steadily expand faculty with AI expertise.
The government plans to establish AI colleges at other institutes of science and technology in 2027, including Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology (GIST), Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science and Technology (DGIST), and Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST).
With the establishment of the KAIST AI college, the student quota will also expand to 300, including 100 undergraduates, 150 master's students, and 50 doctoral students. The undergraduate program will begin in the spring semester next year. KAIST operates a system in which first-year students do not declare a major, allowing them to choose their major starting in the second year.