In 2023, the College of Artificial Intelligence was established to lead the era of the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
The College of Artificial Intelligence is comprised of a total of four departments: the newly established Department of Artificial Intelligence, Department of Data Science, and the pre-existing Department of Computer Science and Engineering and Department of Cyber Security. Out of the four majors, Ewha Voice looked into the newly established majors that have recently begun to admit new students.
The Department of Artificial Intelligence deals with the field of artificial intelligence (AI) and technology that creates systems that can understand, learn, reason, and interact with data . T h e department offers a curriculum on AI technologies and multifaceted competencies required in the modern industry to understand their basic principles and apply AI to real-world problem-solving.
The department’s faculty, consisting of experts from various fields, delivers in-depth knowledge and practical skills to students based on their respective expertise. The program also provides the foundation for students to grow into future leaders in the AI field by providing practical research opportunities in collaboration with experts from different fields.
“In other departments, you have to participate in separate study groups or extracurricular activities to learn about AI deep learning and programming languages,” said Joo Minsuh, a sophomore from the Department of Artificial Intelligence. “But in the case of our department, you learn everything as part of your major, which is very beneficial.”
Professor Choi Jang-Hwan, Department Chair of Artificial Intelligence, explained that AI is bringing innovation to almost all industries, including healthcare, finance, education, transportation, and entertainment.
“We recommend this major for students who have a deep understanding of technology as well as the ability to creatively solve complex problems,” Professor Choi said. Students with the passion and vision to apply AI technology in socially meaningful ways and can value human-centered approaches as well as technical problem solving will shine in this department.”
Alongside the Department of Artificial Intelligence, another of Ewha’s newly established high-tech major is the Department of Data Science. Data science is a field that derives knowledge and insight from data and discovers information that can help solve real-life problems.
Professor Kim Dongil , Department Chair of Data Science , explained that the program’s curriculum consists of mathematics and statistics, recent methodologies, and applicability to various industries such as medicine, computer science, statistics, business administration, and biotechnology. Professor Kim added that the faculty try their best to provide high-quality education by selecting top-level faculty to nurture data science experts and future leaders in the field.
One of the many advantages of data science is that its future is very promising. As competition intensifies, decision-making processes become more complex, and with its growing influence, data-driven scientific decisionmaking has become important in all fields. Data science’s core technology is also highly competitive, expanding into various domains. Additionally, due to the nature of data science as a discipline, it is highly scalable and flexible.
“I think the biggest advantage of the department is that career paths are flexible,” said Sung Minyoung, a sophomore from the Department of Data Science. “The advantage of this department is that you can tie your interests to your career path, which is greatly beneficial for me, as a person interested in various fields.”
“I wanted to focus on one particular skill along with the ability to apply it to any field," said Kim Hyomin, a sophomore from the department of Data Science, echoing Sung’s sentiments . “Considering this major ‘is a department that cultivates the ability to solve problems,’ I believe it offers a big advantage that you can solve problems in virtually any field you choose.”
Professor Kim explained that there are not many departments in undergraduate programs within South Korea that specialize in data science. The department pursues high-level education starting from the undergraduate level and therefore expects graduates to gain excellent competitive advantage.
Professor Kim added that the data science experts he has met had interest and curiosity in many fields, along with creative and flexible thinking. He recommends the department to those who are interested in various fields of humanities, society, and arts in addition to technical sophistication, or have a creative and unbounded way of thinking.