SK Launches Youth AI Talent Development Program for the AI Era, with KRW 3 Million a Month for 2 Years
TECHWORLD ·
✦ AI Summary
SK Group announced on the 12th that it has launched a new AI talent development program for young people, called "SK AIGEN." The target group is those aged 19 to 34, and the program will run full time for 2 years with KRW 3 million a month in support. Applications for the first cohort will run from November 1 to 15, with about 50 participants to be selected at the end of December and the program set to begin in March 2027.
SK Group has launched a new AI talent development program for young people. The program is called "SK AIGEN," and SK Group announced it on the 12th.
The program aims to strengthen the skills needed in the AI era and support participants in exploring their career paths. The name combines AI and Generation, and it is intended to symbolize a young generation familiar with AI.
Eligible participants are aged 19 to 34, and the program will run full time for 2 years. The support package amounts to KRW 3 million a month for 2 years.
Participants will identify individual, corporate, and social problems and plan and carry out solutions using AI. Through this, the program aims to help them build practical skills and experience.
Rather than following a model in which participants sequentially study coursework and then apply it, the program is designed to cultivate the skills needed in the course of solving real problems. In the first year, participants will explore the problems faced by individuals, companies, and society, directly plan and carry out projects, and identify and develop the skills needed through AI use and collaboration with peers.
Operated by mySUNI, SK Group's talent development platform, AIGEN will recruit young people who are taking on challenges in fields including technology, research, culture and the arts, the public sector, and social issues. AIGEN selects participants based on their willingness to identify and solve problems and their growth potential, rather than on academic background or major.
In the second year, the program will help participants gain hands-on experience solving real problems in the fields relevant to the career directions and project plans they have set. SK plans to connect them with the mentors and experts they need and support project execution and career planning.
It will also cooperate with the Seoul National University AI Research Institute to further develop the program. Based on its capability to conduct research by applying AI to fields such as sociology, economics, and public administration, the institute will help expand participants' humanistic insights and support concrete career planning.
SK will provide a monthly growth support payment of KRW 3 million for 2 years, along with skills training, mentoring for individual and team projects, and workspaces. However, it does not guarantee employment at a specific company, nor does it award a degree.
AIGEN will accept applications for its first cohort from November 1 to 15. It will then proceed with the selection process and choose participants at the end of December. The program will select about 50 people, and the first cohort is scheduled to begin on March 1, 2027.
Detailed program information can be found on AIGEN's official website. Information on selection can be found on AIGEN's official website and Instagram account. AIGEN will hold an offline information session on October 28 at the Korea Foundation for Advanced Studies conference hall.
SK sees autonomous thinking, adaptability to change, and cooperation with others as key capabilities in the AI era. Accordingly, AIGEN was designed to strengthen those capabilities through a method that goes beyond knowledge acquisition and exam-centered education by encouraging direct challenges and experiences of failure.
This background also reflects the concerns expressed by SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won in a lecture on KBS's "Talent War 2" in May. Chey has emphasized that, as AI can replace knowledge acquisition and exam-preparation training, holistic capabilities that allow people to adapt to change and maintain a range of options are important.
AIGEN's operating principles reflect SK's philosophy of nurturing talent to serve the nation. One defining feature of AIGEN is that participants have no separate obligations after the program ends. Park Sang-kyu, head of mySUNI, said AIGEN was prepared to support young people seeking to build the capabilities needed in the AI era.
This direction is aligned with the talent development philosophy of SK Group founder Chey Jong-hyun. Chey Jong-hyun established the Korea Foundation for Advanced Studies in 1974. He fully covered the overseas study expenses of scholarship recipients and imposed no additional conditions other than expecting them to grow into talent that would contribute to the nation and society.
Based on this philosophy, SK plans to select AIGEN participants every year. SK plans to develop AIGEN into a flagship talent development program for South Korea in the AI era. Park Sang-kyu, head of mySUNI, said the company will select participants every year and work to establish AIGEN as SK's flagship talent development program.
Source: TECHWORLD · Park Kyu-chan
Original: https://www.epnc.co.kr/news/articleView.html?idxno=407992
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Source: TECHWORLD
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