Marking its 8th year, the Samsung AI Forum has once again brought together leading scholars and experts in artificial intelligence (AI) and computer science to share the latest research achievements and explore future research directions. Held on Nov. 4-5, Samsung AI Forum 2024 saw global AI scholars gather to discuss the future of AI at the Suwon Convention Center and Samsung Electronics Seoul R&D Campus.

The first day of the forum, organized by the Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology (SAIT), took place on Nov. 4 at the Suwon Convention Center under the theme “Exploring Sustainable Innovation Using AI and Semiconductor Technology.” In his opening address, Han Jong-hee, vice chairman and CEO of Samsung Electronics, emphasized the rapid transformation AI is bringing to our lives and the growing importance of responsible AI use. “AI is transforming our lives at an astonishing pace, and as it becomes more powerful, ‘how to use AI more responsibly’ is becoming increasingly important,” he stated. “Samsung Electronics will fulfill its responsibility to build a more efficient and sustainable AI ecosystem.”

The keynote speech on the first day was delivered by Prof. Yoshua Bengio, a 2018 Turing Award laureate and a globally recognized AI scholar. His address, titled “Bayesian Oracles for AI Safety,” underscored the importance of building safer and more reliable AI systems. Bengio highlighted that AI performance has surpassed human levels in various fields, posing future risks such as large-scale labor market impacts, AI-driven hacking, and the emergence of superintelligence. “For AI safety, both policymakers and the public need to accurately understand the current state and future of AI,” he stressed.

Bengio outlined several key measures to ensure AI safety, including designing safe AI in advance to prevent dangerous behavior, aligning AI’s behavior and goals with human values, and fostering more coordination and cooperation between countries and companies in AI competition. His consistent participation in the Samsung AI Forum since its inception in 2017 and his role as a “Samsung AI Professor” since 2020 highlight his commitment to industry-academia collaboration with Samsung Electronics.

Another notable keynote speaker, Prof. Yann LeCun, also a 2018 Turing Award laureate, discussed the current level and limitations of large language models (LLM). He emphasized the need for additional technological innovation for machines to reach human intelligence levels. The technology session featured Joseph Macri, CTO of AMD, who introduced AMD’s AI solutions under the theme ‘AI Everywhere,’ highlighting the importance of AI platforms and collaboration, and AMD’s strengths.

The Samsung AI Researcher Award was presented to five recipients, including Prof. Suran Song of Stanford University, who delivered on-site lectures. Song has focused on research utilizing AI across robotics and has been highly evaluated for her contributions to the development of recognition and inference algorithms for 3D modeling.

The second day of the forum, organized by Samsung Research, was held on Nov. 5 at Samsung Electronics Seoul R&D Campus under the theme “Device AI for Everyday Life.” Kim Dae-hyun, vice president and head of the Global AI Center at Samsung Research, welcomed attendees by highlighting the accelerating daily changes brought by device AI due to advancements in generative AI technology. He expressed hope that the forum would be a platform to discuss and share new possibilities for the upcoming AI era.

Prof. Ian Horrocks, co-founder of Oxford Semantic Technologies (OST) and professor at the University of Oxford, delivered a keynote speech on “Personalized AI Service Technology Applying Knowledge Graphs.” Samsung Electronics acquired OST, which possesses world-class knowledge graph core technology, in July. Horrocks explained the importance of knowledge graphs and how they store and process data similarly to human knowledge recall and memory. He introduced key application cases such as search and recommendation that reflect the characteristics of knowledge graph systems well and presented implementation plans for user-customized services based on flexible data models and logical reasoning.

Choi Chang-kyu, vice president and head of the AI Research Center at Samsung Electronics SAIT, discussed the role of AI and semiconductor technology in improving lives and advancing scientific research. “AI and semiconductor technology are not only improving our lives but also very important in the scientific field by reducing development time and costs,” he noted. “AI is particularly helpful when there is a lack of experimental data or when material synthesis is difficult.”

Lee Hae-jun, master at Samsung Research, emphasized the necessity of high-quality data, efficient architecture, and stable training techniques for the efficient training of large language models. He explained that reusing previous models can enhance the efficiency and performance of new model training and that these methods should be considered important factors in language model development.

As the forum concluded, Han Jong-hee reiterated Samsung Electronics’ commitment to building a sustainable AI ecosystem, reflecting the company’s dedication to responsible AI development and innovation. The Samsung AI Forum not only showcased cutting-edge research and technological advancements but also fostered meaningful discussions on the ethical and practical implications of AI, setting the stage for future developments in the field.