GIST-MIT Launches Cooperative Hub for "Human-Centered AI"

Professor Seungjun Kim's Team at GIST Selected as Korea's Sole Lead Institution
Establishing the "GIST-MIT Human-Centered Physical AI Interaction Research Center"
Collaboration with MIT's Daniela Rus to Pioneer Next-Generation Physical AI Technologies

(From the right) Principal Investigator Seungjun Kim, Professor Kyungjoong Kim, Professor Jinhyuk Hong at GIST, and Principal Investigator Daniela Luss, Professor at MIT (top left).

Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology (GIST) announced on August 19 that the research team led by Professor Seungjun Kim of the Department of AI Convergence has been selected as the lead institution for the "Establishment of Overseas Excellent Research Institution Cooperation Hub Project," organized by the Ministry of Science and ICT and the National Research Foundation of Korea.

This project aims to further advance the overseas networks already established by domestic research institutions, enabling them to continuously generate outstanding results through international collaboration and to actively leverage excellent overseas research capabilities for domestic research and industry. This year, GIST was the only institution in the nation to be selected.

The research team plans to receive a total of 7.7 billion KRW in funding over the next six years, until 2030, to establish and operate the "GIST-MIT Human-Centered Physical AI Interaction Research Center." Daniela Rus, Director of the Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), will participate as the overseas principal investigator.

Professor Rus is a world-renowned authority in robotics, and her first popular science book, "MIT Robot Class by Genius Roboticist Daniela Rus," published last year, has recently been translated and introduced in Korea, making her widely known to the public.

In Korea, the team will be led by Professor Seungjun Kim (general director), joined by top experts in each field: Professor Jinhyuk Hong (GIST, robotics and accessibility), Professor Kyungjoong Kim (GIST, reinforcement learning and tactile robots), Professor Youngmin Song (Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), optoelectronics and physical AI sensors), and Director Kyungtaek Lee (Korea Electronics Technology Institute (KETI), edge computing and immersive media).

Through the newly established research center, GIST and MIT aim to realize "human-centered AI" by developing physical AI technologies with immersive interaction, inclusivity, and explainability. To this end, the two universities will jointly research human-computer interaction (HCI) technologies and extended reality (XR) application technologies.

Physical AI refers to next-generation artificial intelligence technologies that do not remain confined to virtual environments but interact directly with the physical world. The core is to create environments where people and machines can collaborate naturally by combining sensors, robots, autonomous vehicles, smart manufacturing facilities, and other physical devices with AI.

Physical AI can be integrated with a wide range of advanced technologies such as humanoid robots, autonomous vehicles, and smart factories, and is attracting attention as an innovative future technology with broad applications in healthcare, education, industry, and services.

Professor Seungjun Kim stated, "Based on the international cooperation network and experience we have built through five years of GIST-MIT joint research, we will achieve world-class research outcomes," adding, "We will also take the lead in fostering the next generation of global AI talent through active exchanges among researchers."

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