Bae Choong-sik, the newly inaugurated president of KAIST, presented a bold vision on August 10 to cultivate “artificial intelligence warriors with strong fundamentals.” Taking the stage in a dress shirt rather than a suit, Bae delivered a presentation-style inaugural address, declaring that AI would be placed at the center of all academic disciplines and that the entire educational curriculum would be fundamentally redesigned.
The 18th presidential inauguration ceremony, held at KAIST’s main auditorium, unfolded in the most unconventional manner in the institution’s history. President Bae appeared in a dress shirt instead of formal attire and proceeded with a presentation reminiscent of a corporate investor briefing. The stage, directed by world-renowned media artist and KAIST industrial design professor Kang Yi-yeon, featured elaborate laser displays and massive screens that underscored a futuristic atmosphere.
The highlight of the inaugural address was the appearance of robots developed by KAIST researchers. While a humanoid robot created by Professor Park Hae-won danced to music, the quadrupedal robot “Raibo” from Professor Hwangbo Je-min’s team climbed the stage stairs and executed a backflip, drawing applause from the audience. The production was widely seen as a symbolic representation of the “agile and results-oriented university” that President Bae envisions.
During his roughly 20-minute address, Bae mentioned “AI” 44 times and “fundamentals” 10 times, making his educational philosophy unmistakably clear. A mechanical engineering alumnus, he outlined a vision where AI serves not as a tool for specific majors but as the central axis of all academic fields. “Future innovation will emerge when AI converges with other domains,” Bae said. “An AI talent with strong fundamentals is someone who has mastered domain knowledge to the point of being able to verify AI outputs.”
To implement this philosophy, President Bae unveiled his “Five Beyond Strategies” — moving beyond AI, the laboratory, boundaries, carbon, and KAIST itself. The core element is a comprehensive overhaul of the curriculum. KAIST plans to assign AI usage ratings to all courses, categorizing them into three tiers ranging from foundational education without AI to AI-driven education where students design AI systems directly. The plan also calls for strengthening foundational education in mathematics and the natural sciences while expanding laboratory work, hands-on training, and humanities and social sciences education to cultivate talent with the interdisciplinary thinking required in the AI era.
President Bae also expressed his determination to extend the university’s role beyond education and research into the industrial field. “We will use AI to innovate education, research, and administration, and move beyond the laboratory to build autonomous AI labs in partnership with corporations,” he said, outlining his ambition to transform KAIST into a national innovation platform.
Deputy Prime Minister Bae Kyung-hoon, who also serves as Minister of Science and ICT, attended the ceremony and conveyed the government’s support. In his congratulatory remarks, Minister Bae said, “I hope KAIST will further strengthen its mission of leading science and technology,” adding that “the government will spare no effort in supporting initiatives such as K-Moonshot and strategic technology research to propel South Korea forward.” He specifically noted that “next year’s R&D budget will increase further, and we plan to make significant investments centered on AI,” signaling that KAIST’s AI-centric strategy aligns with the government’s research and development policy.
The ceremony also featured presentations from KAIST alumni who are leading AI adoption based on their domain expertise. Yoon Hyun-sook, head of the digital twin division at HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering, lent weight to President Bae’s educational philosophy, stating, “AI is already transforming industrial sites, and innovation is completed when digital twins are built on a foundation of solid domain knowledge.”
The inauguration was widely assessed as more than a mere formality — it was a condensed showcase of KAIST’s future direction. President Bae’s approach, which positions AI as the foundation of all disciplines while re-emphasizing the importance of fundamental sciences, is seen as offering an answer to what differentiated competitiveness KAIST should pursue amid the rapidly intensifying race for technological supremacy.