SKT Expands Talent Development and Community with 'AI Fellowship'

SK Telecom announced on the 20th that it held the graduation ceremony for the 5th SKT AI Fellowship at the SK TECH SUMMIT 2023 event held at COEX in Gangnam-gu, Seoul.

The SKT AI Fellowship is a program launched in 2019 to help university (graduate) students studying AI gain practical experience and grow into development experts. Participants in the program conduct research identical to that of current developers, receive mentoring, and accumulate hands-on experience.

KAIST team (Grand Prize), Gachon University Department of Software, Sungkyunkwan University Department of Software, and Chung-Ang University Department of Biomedical Engineering teams (Excellence Award), Chung-Ang University Department of Computer Engineering team (Merit Award) students posing for a commemorative photo with Jung Young-bae, SK Telecom Corporate Culture Talent Development Manager (left)
Photo by SK Telecom

A total of 12 teams and 35 students participated in the 5th SKT AI Fellowship. Since May, participants have chosen one of the next-generation AI technology fields such as ▲media ▲generative AI ▲biomedical ▲big data ▲robotics ▲5G ▲cloud, and conducted research projects over approximately five months.

SKT selected three outstanding research teams and awarded them a total prize of 10 million KRW. The three teams recognized for excellent projects and who presented at the graduation ceremony were: the KAIST team that developed AI Video Editing technology; the Gachon University, Sungkyunkwan University, and Chung-Ang University team that researched automatic diagnosis using X-ray image AI models; and the Chung-Ang University team that conducted research on AI-based high-definition 3D conversion technology (NeRF, Neural Radiance Fields). These teams produced papers and filed multiple patents based on their projects.

The KAIST team devised a technology that naturally generates lost screen areas caused by the aspect ratio of old videos using AI technology. The Gachon University, Sungkyunkwan University, and Chung-Ang University team addressed issues related to the quality and high cost of medical data. The Chung-Ang University team conducted research to build 3D virtual spaces by learning 2D images and generating images from new viewpoints.

Graduates of the 5th fellowship are granted the privilege of exemption from the first round of screening when applying for SKT Junior Talent (new employee) recruitment. In fact, some previous SKT AI Fellowship graduates have successfully joined SKT as new employees this year.

SKT plans to operate an alumni program encompassing graduates from the 1st to 5th cohorts to ensure the SKT AI Fellowship is not just a short-term program. This initiative aims to support future AI ecosystem leaders in expanding the domestic AI community through continuous networking.

An Jung-hwan, head of SKT’s corporate culture division, stated, “Through the SKT AI Fellowship program, students gain vivid practical experience on-site and achieve meaningful results. SKT will continue to introduce various programs to support talents who will lead the domestic AI industry.”