Samsung AI Forum 2021 Explores Future of AI Research

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa – 16 November 2021 – Leading academics, industry experts discussed “AI Research for Tomorrow” and “AI in a Human World”

Samsung held the Samsung AI Forum 2021 for two days from November 1 to November 2. Marking its fifth year, the forum gathers world-renowned academics and industry experts on artificial intelligence (AI) and serves as a platform for exchanging ideas, insights and the latest research findings, as well as a platform to discuss the future of AI.

Day 1: AI Research for Tomorrow

On Day 1, which was hosted by Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology (SAIT), Samsung’s R&D hub dedicated to cutting-edge future technologies, Dr. Kinam Kim, Vice Chairman & CEO of Device Solutions at Samsung Electronics, delivered the opening remarks. Under the theme, “AI Research for Tomorrow”, renowned AI experts discussed various AI technologies and the research direction on AI — from fundamental research to its applications – including how AI research will impact other fields such as new material development and semiconductors.

This year, Professor Yoshua Bengio, the winner of the 2018 Turing Award — often referred to as the Nobel Prize in computing — delivered the keynote. The keynote speech was followed by three technology sessions: Scalable and Sustainable AI Computing, AI for Scientific Discovery and Trustworthy Computer Vision.

In particular, in this year’s forum, various AI start-ups provided an overview of the current trends in cutting-edge AI technology and shared their actual business application models. In addition, the AI research leaders at SAIT participated in the forum as speakers and gave presentations on the current status and vision of Samsung’s AI research.

The Samsung AI Researcher of the Year awards,¹ which were established last year in an effort to discover excelling rising researchers in the field of AI, was also presented during the forum. Last year, five researchers including Professor Kyunghyun Cho of New York University were awarded.

As the co-chairs of this year’s forum, Dr. Gyoyoung Jin, President and Head of SAIT and Professor Bengio, who was appointed as the Samsung AI Professor last year, highlighted outstanding rising researchers and expanded the base of AI research.

“This year’s forum was organised as a venue for sharing the current status of AI technology research and AI applications as well as discussing ways to transform AI into a technology that substantially contributes to our daily lives,” said Professor Bengio.

Day 2: AI in a Human World

Day 2 sessions were hosted by Samsung Research, the company’s advanced R&D hub that leads the development of future technologies for its Consumer Electronics division and IT & Mobile Communications division. Under the theme “AI in a Human World”, Dr. Sebastian Seung, President and Head of Samsung Research, delivered the opening remarks, and AI experts who have been actively engaging in AI research activities worldwide shared their insights on the current status of AI and future research directions that will have an important impact on our lives.

The keynote was delivered by Professor Leslie Valiant, the 2010 Turing Award winner, of Harvard University on the subject of integrating machine learning and inference for next-generation AI. This was followed by technology sessions: Interpretability for Skeptical Minds and Understanding Matter with Deep Learning.

Dr. Daniel Lee, Executive Vice President and Head of Samsung Research Global AI Centre, presided over an in-depth panel discussion with the speakers regarding the ‘future prospects and considerations of each AI sector’.

Lightning talks (5-minute speeches, 7 sessions) took place this year where members of the Samsung Research Global AI Centre and 5 AI centres (Cambridge, U.K.; New York, U.S.; Toronto, Canada; Montreal, Canada; and Moscow, Russia) participated.

“This year’s AI Forum helped us better understand where the current AI technology developments are heading and also about AI applicable products which are becoming smarter,” said Dr. Sebastian Seung, President and Head of Samsung Research.

¹ Samsung AI Researcher of the Year: selected among AI researchers of aged 35 or under (up to five researchers per year)