According to the Best Global Brands list, announced by the global consulting firm Interbrand on October 20 2021, Samsung ranked fifth with a brand value of USD 74.6 billion, a 20% increase compared to last year. On the back of its strong financial performance, which has recovered to reach pre-pandemic levels, the company’s brand value surged by 20% this year, twice the average brand value growth rate among the top 100 brands in 2021.

Since entering the top five for the first time last year, Samsung has maintained its position for two consecutive years with its largest increase in brand value since 2013.

According to Interbrand, major factors that played a critical role in Samsung’s growth include:

• Its transition to a customer-centric management system, highlighted by the establishment of a new CX (customer experience) team dedicated to prioritising customer experience and values.
• Its ongoing efforts for sustainable development, including various campaigns guided by its CSR vision, ‘Together for Tomorrow! Enabling People,’ as well as company-wide initiatives that promote sustainability, such as the use of eco-packaging for TVs and the Galaxy Upcycling programme.
• The launches of innovative products including the Galaxy Z Flip 3, Neo QLEDs, and the Bespoke lineup of home appliances.
• Leading the development of advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), 5G, automotive, and robotics through consistent investment.

“It is very encouraging to see Samsung Electronics reach the top five in the world last year and then achieve enormous double-digit growth this year—our biggest leap in brand value since 2013,” said YH Lee, CMO of Samsung Electronics. “We promise to leverage our customer-centric management model to keep listening to our customers. This is how we will repay the massive support we have received from customers around the globe.”

Interbrand evaluates businesses’ brand value based on a comprehensive analysis of multiple factors including financial performance, brand influence on purchase, and brand competitiveness.

Meanwhile, on October 12, Samsung was also ranked No.1 by Forbes as the World’s Best Employers 2021 for the second consecutive year. As a global organisation with employees and businesses around the world, Samsung has, once again, been chosen as the number one employer.

Each year, Forbes surveys around 150,000 employees from 58 countries working for businesses with operations in multiple nations or regions, and this year asked respondents to rank their satisfaction with their employers’ COVID-19 responses and score their employers on image, economic footprint, talent development, gender equality and social responsibility.

Reference: Samsung Electronics’ growth in brand value (Interbrand)

There is much anticipation these days around the field of robotics with its immense potential and promising future applications. However, a large gap exists between public expectations and what is actually deemed technically feasible by scientists and engineers today. Fortunately, Samsung’s New York AI Center is buoyed by the presence of a team of highly skilled researchers, led by robotics and AI expert Dr. Daniel D. Lee, who are working to close this gap. Samsung Newsroom spoke with Dr. Lee about the work being done at the center, as well as the facility’s ability to foster collaboration in a range of areas and attract top talent.

Challenges to Overcome

Asked about his center’s mandate, Lee explains that the New York AI Center focuses on “fundamental research at the intersection of AI, robotics and neuroscience.” The center’s objective is to “solve challenging problems” at this intersection, and one good example is the problem of robotic manipulation¹.

Put simply, robots need to become far more skillful before they are ready to help humans with physical tasks in their daily lives. The first step involves endowing robots with the intelligence to perceive and understand their surroundings. Next, they must be able to make swift decisions in unpredictable situations. Finally, robots should be dexterous and nimble enough to perform the appropriate actions. However, it is impossible for robot designers to anticipate every contingency robots will encounter in real world environments. Thus, robots need to be able to learn from experience just as humans do.

At this time, most common machine learning methods are not suitable for teaching robots since enormous amounts of training data are required. Lee explained that there are several challenges that need to be addressed regarding machine learning for robotics.

“Dealing with the physical world is much more difficult for AI than playing video games or Go,” he explains, “We are currently developing AI learning methods that can deal with the uncertainty and diversity of the physical world so that robots become more prevalent in homes and workplaces. I would compare the state of robots today to computers in the 1980’s during the transformation from mainframes to personal computers.”

The New York AI Center is addressing such challenges to provide a richer AI and robotics experience. For instance, the center has recently developed novel AI methods that are able to efficiently teach robots using limited data. One recently-developed method trains a neural network to generate motion trajectories for a robot arm directly from camera images.

Getting a Handle on Robotic Manipulation

In order to allow robots to handle things for people, robots need to learn how to touch, grasp, and move a variety of everyday objects. Lee explains how the problem of dexterous robotic manipulation is an area of focus for the New York AI Center.

Lee comments that “the ability of humans and some animals to manipulate household objects is currently unmatched by machines. That’s why we are investigating how AI-based solutions can be applied to make breakthroughs in this area.” Extrapolating further, Lee explains that ‘dexterous’ robotic manipulation “requires the ability to precisely and robustly handle objects exhibiting uncertain material properties.”

“Manipulation is relatively easy if the objects and environments are carefully controlled, such as on a factory floor,” Lee reports, “But it becomes much more difficult in unknown, cluttered environments when faced with a diverse array of objects.”

By way of an example, Lee lays out the capabilities that would be required for a robot to serve a chilled glass of wine in a restaurant. “How heavy is the glass, and how slippery is it due to condensation?” He adds, “It’s impossible to completely model all the possible physical characteristics of the glass of wine, so machine learning is critical in training robots to handle the difficult situations.”

Collaborative Innovation

As the AI sector has grown more sophisticated, it has become increasingly clear that collaborative solutions are critical for researchers to overcome the challenges they face. In an area as complex and multi-faceted as robotic manipulation, contributions from and collaborations with “the world’s best and brightest” will be instrumental, comments Lee. He highlights the value of working with both other Samsung AI Centers and academic institutions, saying that, “solving fundamental problems in AI to positively impact society requires drawing upon the ability and skills of numerous experts globally.”

He added, “The Samsung AI Centers invite collaborations with researchers who can help address these difficult challenges. We currently have a number of faculty from leading academic institutions who are collaborating with us in New York.”

Attracting Talent

Lee highlights just how beneficial being located in New York has been for his team, saying that “certainly, New York City is one of the greatest and most diverse cities in the world. It is a magnet for world-class research and engineering talent.”

Attracting the very best in talent is extremely important to remain on the bleeding edge of future AI advancements, and Lee reports that the center has been fortunate in this area, saying, “We have benefited from being able to attract and recruit some outstanding researchers since we started the Center.”

“Our team is composed of expert scientists and engineers who are creating innovative theories and algorithms and state-of-the-art technological developments,” Lee adds, “It’s been great working with them to publish in leading academic conferences and journals as well.”

How Robotics Could Revolutionize Our Lives

Speaking about how he envisions robots will fit into society in the future, Lee points out that, in their infancy, some robots drew attention because they were cute and fun, but that people tended to use them less as the novelty wore off. In order for people to see robots as valuable and relevant, new systems need to have enough intelligence that they become indispensable in our daily lives.

“Intelligent robotic systems have the potential to completely revolutionize how people go about their activities in the future,” Lee extrapolates, “In the near term, we will see modest improvements on simple tasks in constrained environments. But more complete systems that can handle a variety of chores and complex tasks will require further research breakthroughs. The Samsung AI Centers are helping to generate those new advances.”

Asked to outline what he sees as the ultimate vision for AI and robotic intelligence, Lee says, “I grew up reading and watching science fiction stories that envisaged amazing robots helping humans. It would be incredible to see some of those positive visions actually come to life.”

¹ The ability for robots to interact with and move physical objects in a range of environments.

Sebastian Seung, Executive Vice President & Chief Research Scientist, Samsung Electronics

There’s no denying that the age of AI is upon us and that the ways we engage and interact are set to change in big ways. In anticipation of this, Samsung Electronics has opened AI centers across the world to ensure that the company leads the charge on AI. 2019 marks the 50^th anniversary of Samsung Electronics, and the company has forecast another 50 years of ingenuity ahead, with AI set to be at the heart of future innovation.

To gain a great insight into what AI means for the future of society, as well as the work being done at the Samsung AI Centers, Samsung Newsroom sat down with Executive Vice President & Chief Research Scientist, Dr. Sebastian Seung.

Seung joined Samsung Electronics in 2018. He is also a professor at the Princeton Neuroscience Institute and Department of Computer Science. Seung is one of the most influential scientists in the world when it comes to AI research based on neuroscience.

Artificial Neural Networks and AI

Based on his extensive experience and insights into the field of artificial neural networks¹, Seung is working on developing future growth engines for Samsung Electronics by establishing an AI strategy and providing advice on advanced research.

Artificial neural networks are mathematical models or computer simulations of the biological neural networks in the brain. “Convolutional networks, now the dominant approach to computer vision, were inspired by Nobel Prize-winning neuroscience of the 1960s,” according to Seung. His research at Princeton focuses on mapping the neuronal “wiring diagram” of the cerebral cortex. “I hope that our 21^st century studies of the cortex will finally reveal how it learns, and that this new understanding will lead to more powerful artificial neural networks,” says Seung.

In his work for Samsung, Dr. Seung travels back and forth between the U.S. and Korea. His recent work is especially focused on advanced research regarding robots, which is the New York AI Center’s main field of research.

Deep Learning and Robotics

These days, robots are already present in society in the forms of robot vacuum cleaners in our homes and robotic arms being used in factories and by shipping companies. Seung acknowledges that these robots already represent an early stage of this technology, but says that what he is aiming for is something much more sophisticated. “In order to develop robots that can, for instance, reach out to pick something up and put it away,” Seung says, “we have to equip them with computer vision so they can see what’s in front of them, and with brains so that they know what all these objects in your house are and what they should do with them.”

Seung acknowledges that labs have tried in the past to achieve these capabilities through the classical approach of programming, but that that hasn’t really worked out. “We have realized that we have to somehow allow the robot to learn to perform the required actions itself,” says Seung, “and a lot of that involves the deep-learning approach.”

Seung points to the area of home automation as a primary application for their work. “In the future, you can imagine robots that won’t just give you weather information or change the temperature – they’ll perform far more helpful tasks in your home. They’ll pick up the toys, wash the dishes and even take the laundry up and down the stairs.”

AI in Society

No discussion of AI would be complete without addressing the apprehensions some people feel when it comes to the technology and the ways in which it stands to change our way of life. Seung addresses this question first with regards to the prospect of people losing their jobs to automation. “I think this issue of robots taking our jobs is exaggerated,” he relates. “Firstly, in the last 20 years, the U.S. and many other developed countries have lost a lot of jobs to offshoring, not just to automation. As in the first industrial revolution, many jobs were eliminated, but that didn’t mean that there were fewer jobs in total, because new jobs arose from the new circumstances.”

Seung went on to comment on the wider attitudes towards automation of industry, and the fact that the issue needs to be looked at through a different lens. “If robots really could do all of our work, why shouldn’t we be happy about that?” he said.

Asked the inevitable question about doomsday scenarios in which machine intelligence outstrips that of humans and robots take over the world, Seung claimed, “People don’t actually know what the real capabilities of AI are. And part of that is a public misconception based on science fiction movies that convince people that robots can do anything. In reality, robots are still really clumsy.”

Seung went on to point out that AI developments may well end up greatly helping us, instead of dooming us. “Are robots going to do something bad to us?” he said. “Well, the reason that I don’t worry about that is that of all the environmental and political threats to humanity, robots are not very high on the list. And not only that, I think that if humanity is to best equip itself to deal with any and all future threats, we need to be as smart as possible. And that involves having the most sophisticated technology. You could be a science-fiction pessimist and say maybe these robots could turn on us, but you could also argue that maybe we’ll use these robots to save us.”

Speaking to other misconceptions about AI, Seung pointed to the actual capabilities of the technology. “The public thinks that AI can do more than it really can,” he said. “To give you an example, I met someone who wanted AI to replace her doctor. But there are many things that no human doctor can fix. So, because our current approach to AI involves training machines based on the expertise of human practitioners, if the best human experts can’t solve it, then the AI can’t do it either. It’s not like AI will all of a sudden be able to perform tasks better than the human experts.”

The Next 50 Years of AI

Having reached its 50-year anniversary this year, Samsung is now looking to AI to spearhead the next 50 years of innovation. Asked what he expects for this period, Seung said, “In 20~30 years robots will be able to work in the home just as humans can. It will have happened the same way that the mobile phone revolution has happened. Everybody has a mobile phone now – billions of them are sold every year – and the same is going to be true of robots.”

Home automation and self-driving cars based on AI are other hot-button topics right now. Seung says he fully expects AI-equipped cars to become a reality, but that the timeline for their inception is hard to sketch out. “AI is going to lead to a lot of labor-saving things happening in people’s everyday lives, like autonomous cars for instance,” he said. “Are they going to be here next year, or will it take 20 years? Experts are realizing that full autonomy will take longer than the media originally portrayed, but most still believe that it will be achieved. I’d like to see Samsung have some part in that revolution, if not lead that revolution.”

The prospective benefits of AI are enormous in scale and diverse in focus. Outlining some of the applications of AI that the general population may not be aware of, Seung remarked that “The effect AI could have on scientific research is a major one. AI can be applied to accelerate scientific discovery, and in the long term, it will have a huge impact on areas like materials engineering and chemistry. Let’s say I want to design a new molecule with certain properties – AI might allow me to do that more easily. Then, that new molecule could have applications for a drug company, or really any company that creates materials. So AI is not only applied to technology – it’s also used for scientific discovery, which then accelerates the advancement of technology.”

¹An artificial neural network is an attempt to simulate the network of neurons that make up a human brain so that the computer will be able to learn things and make decisions in a humanlike manner. (https://www.forbes.com/sites/bernardmarr/2018/09/24/what-are-artificial-neural-networks-a-simple-explanation-for-absolutely-anyone/#1b4809251245)

Located in the heart of Chelsea, the New York AI Center will be led by Daniel D. Lee, Executive Vice President of Samsung Research and a global authority in AI robotics, who joined Samsung Electronics last June. With cooperation from a leading authority in neuroscience-based AI technologies, H. Sebastian Seung, Executive Vice President of Samsung Research, the New York AI Center will spearhead the advanced AI research in robotics. As the Chief Research Scientist of Samsung Electronics, Seung will also advise Samsung on advanced AI research in developing future business growth opportunities.

“What we need now is to focus on creating new values that make people’s lives easier and more convenient by harnessing the power of AI in Samsung’s products and services,” said Hyun-suk Kim, President and Head of Samsung Research, the advanced R&D arm of Samsung Electronics’ device business. “To do this, our Global AI Centers, including the New York AI Center, must play a pivotal role.”

Samsung has announced plans to expand its advanced AI research capabilities to employ about 1,000 specialists by 2020. This will be Samsung’s sixth AI center around the world, and it will work in partnership with Samsung’s other AI research facilities. The additional AI centers are located in Korea, the U.K., Canada, Russia, and Silicon Valley, the U.S.

“We are excited to open a new Samsung AI center in New York, which will specialize in robotics research,” said Daniel D. Lee. “New York is one of the world’s great cities, and with this new facility we will be able to leverage the tremendous talent in the area. We also look forward to collaborating with top universities and academic centers in the region.”

The facility is located at 123 West 18^th St, New York. The facility’s opening ceremony was held on September 7^th in New York City, with about 100 guests in attendance including President Kim; Seunghwan Cho, Executive Vice President of Samsung Research; Geunbae Lee, Head of Samsung AI Center in Seoul; Professor Daniel P. Huttenlocher, the Dean of Cornell Tech; and Professor David Tank, Director of Princeton Neuroscience Institute.”

“The field of AI has made revolutionary progress by finally embracing neural networks,” said H. Sebastian Seung. “This is just the beginning of a new era of innovation in AI, and we at the Samsung AI research center in New York are proud to be part of this exciting quest.”

The global AI Centers will contribute to Samsung’s AI research with their unique regional strengths, and Samsung is expected to expand its AI centers to other technology and talent-rich areas to cement its place as a leader of AI research in the industry.

For more details on Samsung Research and the global AI Centers, please visit the official Samsung Research webpage at http://research.samsung.com.