Finding Solutions for Liberal Arts Education in the Age of Advanced Technology! … UNIST Hosts International Colloquium

The Humanities Research Institute of the Department of Humanities at UNIST held an international colloquium on the theme of "Liberal Arts Education in the Era of Advanced Artificial Intelligence (AI)."

Education experts from Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST), Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology (GIST), and University of Ulsan attended the event to discuss the mission of ethics, policy, and liberal arts education in a society driven by advanced technology.

Choi Jin-sook, head of the Department of Humanities at UNIST, stated, "Science and engineering universities are facing difficulties in recruiting and nurturing talent due to the declining school-age population and the 'medical school craze,' and the emergence of generative AI has brought a crisis to education as a whole. We have prepared this opportunity to find answers on how to nurture the next generation of talent by turning this crisis into an opportunity."

Lee Jae-yong, Vice President of UNIST, emphasized in his keynote speech, "To keep up with rapidly evolving technology and prepare for an uncertain future labor market, university students must develop new competencies and ways of thinking."

He added, "I urge university liberal arts education to actively help students cultivate future knowledge and skills."

Participants of the international colloquium are taking a group commemorative photo.

The speakers at the colloquium agreed that the rise of generative AI technology is both a challenge to the core role of liberal arts education and an opportunity to promote students' creativity, critical thinking, and ethical reasoning development.

In a roundtable discussion involving UNIST science and engineering faculty, opinions were exchanged on university education as a whole.

Participants agreed that the status of university education has changed due to the advancement of cutting-edge technologies such as the commercialization of generative AI, and discussed what educational directions and goals universities should pursue to nurture the next generation of talent. They also shared the view that liberal arts education, which broadens the perspectives of science and engineering students, is urgently needed.

Head Choi Jin-sook said, "Taking this colloquium as an opportunity, we will continue to consider the issue of 'liberal arts education for science and engineering talent' with educators not only from domestic science and technology institutes but also from overseas universities, and promote academic and educational exchanges."

The event was held on the 2nd at the Market Hall of the UNIST Industry-Academic Cooperation Building.

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