[POSTECH AI Seminar] The AI Renaissance 2.0 - Redefining Knowledge Systems and Human-Machine Collaboration

Abstract

This seminar explores the transformative impact of artificial intelligence on society and humanity’s relationship with technology. This seminar examines AI’s accelerating evolution from early neural networks to today’s sophisticated multimodal large language models, highlighting pivotal developments like AlphaGo, transformer architectures, and the exponential growth of AI applications across industries. We analyze current adoption trends, investment patterns, and market indicators that suggest we are experiencing an unprecedented technological paradigm shift rather than merely another hype cycle.

The presentation delves into AI agents powered by multimodal learning systems, examining how they bridge linguistic and non-linguistic worlds by leveraging natural language as an interface to process and integrate information across multiple domains. Special attention is given to the dual nature of AI as both blessing and curse—offering tremendous advancements in healthcare, environmental sustainability, economic efficiency, and safety while simultaneously presenting challenges related to job displacement, bias reinforcement, ethical dilemmas, and environmental costs. These contradictions necessitate thoughtful governance approaches and participatory social agreements.

Drawing from insights gained during the KFAS-Salzburg Global Leadership Initiative, the seminar concludes with a framework for empowering humanity in an AI-enriched future. This includes strategic capacity building for scientists, engineers, practitioners, lawmakers, and policy makers, alongside a fundamental paradigm shift in how we implement technology. By reclaiming technology for humanity—transforming automation from replacement to enhancement of human capabilities and channeling AI toward human-centric solutions—we can navigate this technological renaissance in ways that strengthen rather than diminish our collective humanity.