LG, UNESCO Launch Global AI Ethics Course in Seoul

A global AI ethics education course jointly developed by the LG AI Research and UNESCO made its debut in Seoul. Korea is broadening its role beyond adopting global artificial intelligence (AI) ethics norms to becoming a country that supplies educational content for the world to use.

On the 20th, the LG (003550) AI Research and UNESCO held a global launch event for the "AI Ethics MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) Project" at the Korean National Commission for UNESCO in Myeong-dong, Jung-gu, Seoul, unveiling an education course that anyone in the world can take for free.

The event was attended by UNESCO Director-General Khaled El-Enany, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Science and ICT Bae Kyung-hoon, Korean National Commission for UNESCO Secretary-General Hong Hyun-ick, and LG AI Research Co-Director Lim Woo-hyung.

The project focuses on helping AI developers, researchers, and policymakers apply ethical principles to their actual work during the process of technology development and use. It transforms AI ethics, which had remained a declarative norm, into practical education that can be applied at the stages of product development, service operation, and policy formulation.

The LG AI Research and UNESCO signed an agreement on the occasion of the AI Seoul Summit in May 2024, then jointly developed the education course over about two years. This is the first time a private domestic AI research institution has led the entire process, from planning to content production, together with a UN specialized agency to create a global education program.

The education course is based on the "Recommendation on the Ethics of AI," which UNESCO's 193 member states unanimously adopted in 2021. It is provided worldwide through Coursera, an online open lecture platform, and consists of a total of 10 modules.

Scholars from global research institutions including Carnegie Mellon University, Stanford University's McCoy Family Center for Ethics in Society, the Oxford Internet Institute, the Technical University of Munich, and the Alan Turing Institute participated in the lectures. AI field experts from various regions such as Africa and Asia also contributed to developing the educational content.

The international advisory group included experts from 15 institutions, including Harvard University, New York University, the University of Toronto, the University of Notre Dame, United Nations University, the Mozilla Foundation, and UNESCO's World Commission on the Ethics of Scientific Knowledge and Technology. The composition is intended to reflect regional and sectoral issues without being biased toward the perspective of a particular country or industry.

"Ethical AI is not created by principles alone," Director-General El-Enany said. "By transforming the AI ethics recommendation into practical education, we will be able to carry declarative consensus through to practice across the entire AI life cycle."

Deputy Prime Minister Bae also stressed, "To create a safe and trustworthy AI ecosystem, the international community must establish common principles and standards and practice them together." He added, "Korea will also cooperate with UNESCO to contribute to spreading AI ethics and digital inclusion."

The LG AI Research and UNESCO are pursuing domestic training programs, not stopping at online education. They plan to pilot AI ethics training for AI developers and researchers in the second half of this year, and next year expand the education course to 5-10 hub universities nationwide.