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A “question mark” was attached to every topic in the forum. The “SNU Grand Quest Open Forum” was held from September 6th to September 15th and hosted by the Institute for Future Strategy (IFS). This forum, initiated this year, was designed to pose challenging questions after gathering issues expected to change the paradigm of science.
The SNU Grand Quest Open Forum, under the theme of “Challenging questions towards the future of science and technology,” arrived at ten questions that, to answer, required a fundamental shift in thinking beyond the existing roadmap, such as privacy-based AI, inferencing AI, and the science of aging. The forum began with a presentation by Professors Je-Geun Park and Dohun Kim of the Department of Physics and Astronomy regarding the question, “Can quantum computing be implemented with integrated circuit technology?” As such, we shared thoughts on what fields quantum computing is applicable to. On the same day, Professor Jangwoo Kim of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, and Professor Sangbum Kim of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering offered a presentation on the question “Can we create an ultra-fine/ultra-low-power semiconductor that will change the paradigm of the future IT industry?” followed by a discussion on the challenges that future researchers must overcome to develop new semiconductors.
September 7th began with a presentation by Professor Yongdai Kim of the Department of Statistics, and Professor Sungroh Yoon of the Department of Electrical and Computer
Engineering, regarding the question “Can we create AI that completely infers causal relationships?”, discussing whether we could develop AI algorithms capable of inferring and
explaining causal relationships that humans can understand beyond the current AI paradigm. In the presentation “Can we create a robot that adapts to a changing environment?’ by
Professor Kyu-Jin Cho of the Department of Mechanical Engineering and Professor Hyounjin Kim of the Department of Aerospace Engineering, we discussed whether it was possible to
create a robot that recognizes the changed environment and adapts its behavior to complete its mission.
On the 8th, Professor Jeong-hee Cheon of the Department of Mathematical Sciences and Professor Jung-ho Ahn of the Department of Intelligence and Information Convergence, under
the question, “Can we communicate with artificial intelligence through encrypted data?,” led discussions on whether it would be possible to create the ultimate encryption
system by training AI with encrypted data to enable the AI to handle encrypted questions and answers. On the 13th, Distinguished Professor Taek-Hwan Hyun of the Department of
Chemical and Biological Engineering and Professor Young-eun Seong of the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering provided a presentation on “Can we create a catalyst
for hydrogen production as excellent as enzymes?” to discuss whether it would be possible to create a catalyst that acts as efficiently as an enzyme because the mechanism by
which enzymes in the human body, which are the most efficient hydrogen production catalysts on Earth, act as excellent catalysts is not yet well understood. Also interesting
was the thesis, “Can aging cells be discovered and controlled?” by Professor Gwang-il Kim of the School of Medicine and Professor Chan-hee Kang of the Department of Biological
Sciences, held on the same day. The presentation proposed a new possibility for the treatment of many diseases.
On the 14th, Professor Jang Wook Choi of the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering and Professor Kisuk Kang of the Department of Material Science and Engineering
discussed the theme “Can we fabricate a battery that allows 10,000-kilometer travel on a single charge and lasts for 10 years?” to explore the limitations of current
lithium-ion battery technology and other alternative metals on the periodic table. On the same day, Professor Byeong-tak Zhang of the Department of Computer Science and
Engineering and Professor Inah Lee of the Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, under the inquiry “Can we create AI that adaptively creates and utilizes cognitive
structures in the same way as the human brain?” continued the discussion on whether it would be possible to implement AI with the mind of a baby.
On the 15th, the forum ended with Professors Tae-Young Yoon and Minkyung Baek of the Department of Biological Sciences, considering the question “Can we create an AI that
designs antibodies and understands the adaptive immune system of living organisms in addition to protein structure prediction?’ Concerning this question, the discussion
progressed to whether it would be possible to create customized new drugs for numerous diseases by reinterpreting the operating mechanism of the human adaptive immune system.
Professor Jeong-Dong Lee of the Graduate School of Engineering Practice, who presided over the general discussions held on the day, emphasized that “It is time for a paradigm
change to create a new path where there is no path,” adding that “The only way to follow an unexplored path is to raise challenging questions.” The participating scholars then
spent some time drawing conclusions to the ten questions about the future of science and technology with an emphasis on the “necessity of convergence across fields” to respond
to a new paradigm shift in technological development.
The ‘Grand Quest’ posed by SNU is scheduled to be presented annually from now on. The forum will propose challenging goals for the next generations designed to pave the way for
the future of science and technology and serve as a new milestone for Korean industry, which is continuously striving to bring future horizons closer to reality.
