SK Telecom announced on March 27 that it will select two "AI Fellowships" for university and graduate school students nationwide to experience practical activities in major ICT areas such as AI and 5G.
The "AI Fellowship" marks the second year since its start in 2019 with SK Telecom's program to directly train AI experts, a key workforce in the fourth industrial era, to fulfill its social responsibility as an ICT company.
Anyone, including students who are interested in the program, can apply for the program by individual or team consisting of three or fewer students, from the third year of undergraduate to the third semester of master's degree. Applications will be accepted from March 30 to April 23.
School and major information is not included as a requirement for selection to assess fairness and competence only.
The reason SK Telecom's 'AI Fellowship' is getting more attention from students in related fields is that participants can participate in ongoing projects in the real world. Participants will carry out tasks in key ICT sectors, including developing applications using APIs and source codes provided by SK Telecom.
Experts consisting of industry experts and Ph.D. graduates will be assigned mentors to help program participants solve their problems through mentoring every month. The cost of performing the task will be supported by 10 million won per team.
SK Telecom has earlier realized the need to foster AI experts in the 5G era, stepping up efforts to foster manpower in Korea.
Starting with the opening of the "AI curriculum" with Seoul National University in 2017, SK Telecom has been sharing its AI technology capabilities and IT assets with local universities.
In 2019, the online-based AI curriculum was applied to Yonsei University, Sogang University, Hanyang University and Kwangwoon University, and plans to expand and operate better content to more schools this year.
"As a leading ICT company such as AI and 5G, SK Telecom will nurture talented people early to lead the fourth industrial era," said Shin Sang-kyu, head of the Center for Corporate Culture. "We hope for a lot of interest from prospective experts who want to change the world together."
