Hyundai has recruited scholars in artificial intelligence, Tomaso A. Poggio and Daniela L. Rus, to help steer its future artificial intelligence development as part of its AI Technology Advisory Group.

They will work with Hyundai staff at the advisory group, offering outside expert counsel for planning and engineering the company’s overall AI investment, research and development.

Hyundai established the advisory group, which consists of many experts in the field. Using AI, the advisory group is tasked with consulting on:

• the planning of new AI-based technology strategies and business opportunities
• the establishment of global research organizations
• investments for securing AI-related research infrastructure.

Hyundai is undergoing an ambitious transformation from automotive manufacturer to Smart Mobility Solution Provider and they are invested and engaged in various projects and collaborations covering AI, autonomous driving, electrification, and Mobility as a Service (MaaS).

“It is highly meaningful for me to work together with world-leading minds in artificial intelligence and explore ways to incorporate AI technology in the mobility industry,” Jeong Hee Kim, Vice President and Head of AIRS Company at Hyundai Motor Company. “Hyundai Motor Group will continue to develop technologies and cooperate with diverse global institutions to become a frontrunner in the future mobility industry.”

Professor Tomaso A. Poggio is currently the Eugene McDermott Professor at the Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences; Director, Center for Brains, Minds and Machines; Member of the Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology; and since 2000, member of the faculty of the McGovern Institute for Brain Research.

Poggio is considered one of the world’s most distinguished scholars in neural network research and AI applications. He has been working on the development and analysis of human visual systems into theoretical models and won the American Society for Neuroscience Swatz Prize in theoretical computational neuroscience. Christoph Koch, CEO and chief science officer of the Allen Institute; Amnon Shashua, CTO and founder of Mobileye; and Demis Hassabis, CEO and founder of DeepMind; are some of his most well-known disciples.

Daniela L. Rus is currently is the Andrew and Erna Viterbi Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and Director of the Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She has been researching various forms of robotics and autonomous driving to improve human life. She was selected as the winner of the MacArthur Fellowship awarded by the MacArthur Foundation in the U.S. and was appointed as a member of the U.S. Presidential Advisory Committee on Science and Technology in April this year.

Since the formation of the advisory group, Hyundai has exchanged opinions with its advisors on various new businesses opportunities, including robotics, advancement of AI models and healthcare mobility solutions as well as ways to improve quality of vehicles.

The two sides are collaborating in diverse areas, including improving the learning efficiency of the AI-based deep learning image recognition technology using limited data (Few-shot Learning); acquiring the technology verifying to the user the rationale behind an AI-based recognition (eXplainable AI, or XAI); and the technology that simultaneously reflects newly-generated data in training AI model and interpretation.

On robotics, the advisory group is offering Hyundai counsel on the prospects, ripple effects and potential partners of the robotics industry. The two sides plan to materialize their project direction for the robotics business, which can be synergized with HMG’s internally possessed technologies.

Profiles:

Professor Tomaso A. Poggio

Born in 1947

1970: University of Genoa, Italy, PhD.

2014: American Society of Neurology Swartz Prize for Theoretical and Computational Neuroscience

Present:

• The Eugene McDermott Professor at the Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, MIT
• Director of the Center for Brain, Minds and Machines, MIT
• Member of the Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, MIT
• Member of the Faculty of the McGovern Institute for Brain Research

Daniela L. Rus

Born in 1963

1993: Cornell University, USA, PhD.

2002: MacArthur Fellow, Fellow of ACM and AAAI, and member of the National Academy of Engineers, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences

Present:

• The Andrew and Erna Viterbi Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, MIT
• Director of the Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, MIT
• Member of President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST)