AI Four Kings Visiting Pangyo "Standing Out in the Korean AI Market, Great Opportunities for Naver, Kakao"

Professor Andrew Ng Visits Naver AI Colloquium on the Same Day
"An Era Where Anyone Can Create AI, AI Solves Humanity's Challenges"

"A world will come where everyone creates their own artificial intelligence (AI) and increases productivity in their own way."

Andrew Ng, a professor at Stanford University in the United States, known as one of the 'Four AI Kings,' visited Korea's Silicon Valley, Pangyo, on the 20th. He consecutively visited Naver and Kakao, the leading companies in domestic AI technology, to forecast the future of AI. Professor Ng is considered one of the world's top four AI scholars along with Yann LeCun of New York University, Geoffrey Hinton of the University of Toronto, and Yoshua Bengio of the University of Montreal.

Professor Andrew Ng of Stanford University visited Kakao Pangyo Ajit on the 20th and gave a lecture on the topic of "The Future and Direction of AI."
[Photo by Kakao]

Professor Ng visited Kakao's Pangyo headquarters and gave a lecture titled "The Future and Direction of AI." About 800 Kakao employees attended both online and offline. The interest was so high that hundreds of pre-submitted questions were received.

Professor Ng described AI as the "second electricity." Just as unprecedented businesses like ride-sharing company Uber and accommodation-sharing company Airbnb emerged after the advent of smartphones, AI will create a new wave. He said, "Many startups will be born, and large companies like Kakao will have opportunities to create new value."

He emphasized that such opportunities are available to everyone. Anyone can create their own AI using data and prompts (commands). Professor Ng predicted, "An era will come where anyone can code with generative AI like ChatGPT," and "Everyone will use AI like a personal assistant."

He especially highly evaluated Korea's potential. Professor Ng said, "Before coming to Korea, I visited Singapore and Japan," and added, "The level of interest and questions about AI is very high, indicating great potential."

On the other hand, he diagnosed that there is no need to have excessive fear about AI. He cited humanity's experience in controlling various risks and the development of technologies ensuring AI safety. Professor Ng said, "I do not think AI will bring about the extinction of humanity," and predicted, "Rather, it will play a key role in solving real risks such as climate change and diseases." His view is that to survive and prosper, humanity should develop AI rapidly rather than slow down its progress.

On that day, Professor Ng held a separate meeting with Kakao CEO Hong Eun-taek, Kakao Strategy Planning Group Head Shin Min-gyun, Kakao Brain Co-CEOs Kim Byung-hak, and Kakao Ventures CEO Jeong Shin-ah. They exchanged opinions on the AI industry, which is Kakao's future growth engine.

Professor Andrew Ng of Stanford University visited Naver 1784 on the 20th.
[Photo by Naver]

After Kakao, Professor Ng also visited Naver's headquarters. He met with executives including Kim Yoo-won, CEO of Naver Cloud; Sung Nak-ho, Head of Hyperscale AI Technology; Ha Jung-woo, Head of AI Innovation Center; Yoon Sang-doo, Director of AI Lab; and Yang Sang-hwan, leader of Naver's startup nurturing organization D2SF. They discussed cooperation plans to expand the global AI ecosystem and develop safe AI.

Naver introduced Professor Ng to the next-generation ultra-large AI, "HyperCLOVA X." Professor Ng highly praised Korea for possessing an ultra-large AI specialized in its own culture. He stated, "The global-level AI research capabilities and HyperCLOVA X were very impressive," and "We also confirmed a high potential for cooperation in expanding the AI ecosystem."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.