Seizing the Moment: World-Renowned AI Scholar Sebastian Seung Urges Samsung to Lead the AI Industry
Key Highlights :
As technology continues to advance, artificial intelligence (AI) is becoming an increasingly important part of the modern world. This is why world-renowned AI scholar Sebastian Seung recently urged Samsung Electronics to seize the momentum and take the lead in the AI industry.
Seung, the president of Global Research and Development (R&D) at Samsung Research, posted on the internal knowledge-sharing platform Mosaic that “we are at a turning point where significant opportunities and threats coexist. AI is evolving into a tool that anyone can use to enhance their productivity, similar to the personal computer revolution of the 1980s." He termed this the "Personal AI Revolution" and said that it would be as significant as the changes brought by the internet and mobile phones.
Seung obtained a Ph.D. in theoretical physics from Harvard University, and after working as a Bell Labs researcher and a professor of physics at MIT, he has been a professor of computer science at Princeton University since 2014. Samsung Electronics recruited Seung in 2018 to strengthen its AI research capabilities, entrusting him with shaping its AI strategy and providing guidance for future growth prospects.
Seung explained that the new AI ecosystem consists of large platform companies that provide generative AI and small companies that create human-in-the-loop models using their application programming interfaces (APIs). He urged Samsung to determine how to strategically dominate the device layer within this ecosystem.
The field of AI is one of the future growth drivers personally overseen by Samsung Electronics Executive Chairman Lee Jae-yong. In November 2017, Samsung Electronics established Samsung Research, an integrated research organization, and set up AI centers to conduct advanced AI research. Currently, it operates AI centers in seven locations globally including Silicon Valley and New York.
Recently, under Samsung Research's Next Generation home appliance research team, a Smart Home AI Lab was established to engage in advanced research and development related to finding ways to differentiate home appliances and services based on AI.
Due to the proliferation of generative AI and associated security concerns, Samsung Electronics is developing its own generative AI in collaboration with Samsung SDS. Cheun Kyung-whoon, chief technology officer (CTO) of Samsung Electronics' Device Experience (DX) Division and president of Samsung Research, explained the direction of the company's internal generative AI development during a recent internal town hall meeting.
This includes coding support, document summarization, email transmission, enhancing internal productivity and integrating AI into Samsung devices. Beta testing for these services will begin within the company from October and will be opened to employees by the end of the year or early next year.
With the help of Seung’s guidance, Samsung Electronics is in a strong position to take the lead in the AI industry. The company is investing heavily in research and development, and is actively looking for ways to differentiate its products and services with AI. By taking advantage of the current momentum, Samsung Electronics can continue to innovate and stay ahead of the competition in the AI industry.
