Yonsei, Korea, Keio and Waseda gather to tackle universities' challenges in post-AI era

Four leading private universities from South Korea and Japan, including Yonsei University, convened this year to discuss "universities in the post-AI era," following last year's forum on the crisis facing the humanities.

Yonsei University announced Friday that it hosted the 22nd Korea-Japan Millennium Forum on Wednesday at the Jang Ki-won International Conference Hall in the university's Sinchon campus library, running from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Korea University, Keio University and Waseda University joined as co-participants.

The Korea-Japan Millennium Forum is an annual rotating forum among four major private universities — Yonsei, Korea, Keio and Waseda — representing the higher education sectors of their respective countries. It was launched in 2002 to build cooperative ties and promote academic and research exchanges on shared challenges across a range of fields.

Yonsei last hosted the forum in 2022, when it organized the 18th edition, making this year's event its first time as host in four years.

This year's forum was held under the theme "Preparing Universities for the Post-AI Era: What to Transform, What to Preserve." Presidents, researchers and students from all four universities took part in discussions organized by session.

Last year's forum centered on the "crisis of the humanities," examining how advances in AI technology are affecting the field and what role the humanities can play in a rapidly changing world. This year's gathering went a step further, with participants sharing how AI is transforming research, education and administration at universities and exploring ways to respond.

The forum comprised four sessions: a presidents' session, a student session and two researcher sessions. In the presidents' session, the heads of the four universities exchanged views on "The Mission of the University in an AI-Shaped Society."

The student session followed, with participants sharing their experiences and perspectives on learning and creativity in the age of AI. The researcher sessions addressed how AI is changing approaches to education and research, as well as the core values universities should uphold.

A Yonsei University official said universities must go beyond simply transmitting information and focus more on working alongside students to determine what knowledge and information is truly valuable and correct. "In an era where machines seek to mediate everything between people, the importance of the community between students and faculty within universities has grown considerably," the official said.

The official added that AI should be harnessed in ways that maximize universities' essential role. "This is not something any single university can do alone — it is a challenge that universities must tackle together through cooperation," the official said.