NC AI, a multimodal artificial intelligence (AI) company, will participate in the government-led "K-New Deal Academy" program to nurture young talent seeking to enter the game and AI content fields.
NC AI said Monday it is recruiting youth participants for the "K-New Deal Academy," a program promoted by the Ministry of Employment and Labor and the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, and overseen by the Korea Research Institute for Vocational Education and Training. The company will recruit a total of 150 people across three non-capital-region hubs, including Busan, Daejeon, and Gwangju, and will run a 500-hour training course entirely free of charge.
Starting with the first cohort in July, which will select 60 people each in Busan and Daejeon and 30 in Gwangju, the company plans to operate a total of five cohorts sequentially. Any unemployed youth between the ages of 15 and 34 can apply through a popup on the NC AI website, regardless of major or coding experience.
During the training course, NC AI will provide its entire lineup of generative AI platform "VARCO" products free of charge to all trainees. Rather than a limited practice environment, the company will provide commercial service accounts used in the field as they are, allowing trainees to experience the entire process—from generating assets needed for game production to development and final completion—in the same way as in an actual work environment, according to the company.
All graduates will be connected to various follow-up tracks operated by NC AI, including the VARCO Contest K-New Deal Special Exhibition, the VARCO Game AI game production support program, and the VARCO Artist and Creator system. NC AI will continue to support graduates even after the program ends, helping with various career development paths, including full-time employment as well as independence as a solo creator. In addition, about 25% of the entire training course is composed of programs such as communication with industry professionals, organizational culture experience, self-esteem recovery, and teamwork enhancement.
In this program, NC AI serves as the lead company overseeing program design and job training, while it is operated together with Korea Management Association Consulting (KMA), the operations support center, and training institutions MBC Academy Computer Education Center and Developket Edu.
"Based on our experience directly developing AI and applying it to game and content production sites, we plan to provide a training environment where non-majors and long-term unemployed youth can also use generative AI to create their own content," NC AI CEO Lee Yeon-soo said. "We will establish a support system so that completing the training is not the end but leads to employment and creative activities, building an ecosystem where young people can continuously grow."
