Kookmin University's newly established AI Design Department to present its work in 2022... President is also interested
Students create works using 10 image and video generation AI tools

Department of AI Design, Kookmin University
[Kookmin University's AI Design Department introduction page]

(SEOUL) By Hong Kook-ki = “The boundaries between the theater and film departments will become really blurred, and the AI design department will become a crossover (where activities span two or more areas). I think liberal arts will really come up now.”

Kookmin University President Jeong Seung Ryul made the remarks after attending the first exhibition of AI design students' work, “AI WEEK,” held at Bukak Hall on campus last month and watching videos created using AI tools.

Established in 2022, the Department of AI Design aims to acquire specialized knowledge and practical experience required in the era of convergence based on an understanding of AI, the core technology of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, and to develop the ability to insight into future technologies and environments.

The ultimate goal of the AI Design Department is to foster convergent talents who can create innovations that conventional engineers and designers cannot.

Rapidly advancing AI technology is at the center of the department's goal to develop talented people who are not just experts in one field, but can work in all fields.

“AI tools can do everything from writing scenarios to creating and editing photos and videos, so there are so many things that individuals can do if they have the right aptitude and know how to use them,” said Jeong.

The 16 videos submitted by students currently in the first semester of their third year as assignments in a class called “Imagination Workshop” in the second semester of their second year were all characterized by the use of generative AI tools, from scenario writing to video production.

The AI tools used were ChatGPT, Midjourney, Dali3, Zen2, Runway, Bing Image Creator, Pika, KT [030200] AI Voice Studio, and more than 10 others, covering image, video, and character voice production tools.

Poster of student works presented at AI WEEK, Department of AI Design, Kookmin University
[Courtesy of Kookmin University, Department of AI Design]

“We used a variety of AI tools,” said Lee Eun Seo(21), the first student president of the AI Design Department, “including asking ChatGPT how to use prompts (commands) and using Midjourney to create and train characters to create the same characters over and over again.”

“In the past, it was not easy to create consistent characters when using AI tools to create characters,” said Jung Jin Yeoul, professor of AI Design at Kookmin University. “With the recent release of Sora, a video-generating AI by ChatGPT developer OpenAI, it will be much easier than it is now when it becomes available to the general public later this year.”

As AI technology is being developed and popularized and commercialized every day, it is expected that the quality of video content will be determined by the humanities, where creativity and imagination, not just technology, will be the key to success.

The 2-minute, 40-second video titled “Dog Boy,” submitted by Son Ah-Hyun from the Department of AI Design, depicts young people who have aged mentally.

In the video, a middle-aged woman participating in an experiment actually became younger by living as if she were 20 years older.

It was based on Harvard psychology professor Ellen Langer's research on turning back the clock on the mind.

In the description of the work, Mr. Son wrote that he was inspired by the importance of turning back the clock of the mind, and that he supports all young people who have experienced mental aging.

“AI tools are bound to get better and better as time goes on, and students are sometimes better at using them than professors, so we don't teach them how to use them in class,” said Pan Young Hwan, a professor at Kookmin University's AI Design Department (head of the Techno Design Institute), emphasizing that the focus is on cultivating the ability to insight into future technologies and environments.”

[Dog Boy]: Imagination Workshop Final Examination Son Ah-hyunYouTube

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