9-dan Lee Sedol Becomes Professor Supporting AI Research (Comprehensive)

Appointed as Special Professor at UNIST
Guiding Students Through Board Game Classes

Lee Sedol 9-dan, who lost to the artificial intelligence (AI) AlphaGo in a Go match but achieved a valuable victory, has transformed into a professor in charge of AI. Although he no longer plays Go professionally, he has been given a new role to impart his precious experience and knowledge to students, fostering creativity for the advancement of AI in Korea.

Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST, President Park Jong-dae) appointed Lee Sedol 9-dan as a special-appointed professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering (concurrently at the Graduate School of AI) on the 17th. Following the personnel appointment, Professor Lee will officially begin his activities as a professor with an inauguration ceremony and a congratulatory speech at the UNIST degree conferment ceremony on the 20th.

Professor Lee will engage in research combining AI and Go. He also plans to actively participate in AI advisory roles, special lectures, and external exchange activities.

His first class, co-taught with Professor Lee Kang-su of the Department of Mechanical Engineering, is titled “Board Game Production for Scientists with Professor Lee Sedol.” This course was designed to utilize Lee Sedol’s experience in creating Go-based board games for educating UNIST students. Students interested in board game production will participate for one year, receiving direct mentoring from Professor Lee to produce tangible results. Professor Lee said, "I want to share the experience of combining scientific thinking and creativity through board games with the students.”

In a lecture at Seoul National University last November, Professor Lee pointed out, “Art should have no correct answers to be art, but when players imitate AI, it’s just a board game.”

Since last year, Professor Lee has attracted attention in the AI industry by giving lectures on AI. In September last year, he gave a lecture at UNIST on “The Impact and Changes AI Has Brought to the Go World.” In November, he explained his experience competing against AI at Seoul National University.

In the November lecture at Seoul National University, Professor Lee explained the global attention he received as a human who competed against AI: “When I was offered a match against AlphaGo, I thought it was a Google event and accepted without much thought. I never considered losing, but the actual match was different from what I expected.” Although he succeeded in winning one game against AlphaGo, he decided to retire early. Professor Lee’s term is three years, starting from this day until February 2028.