An Engineer Who Surprised ChatGPT “The era of making robots at home like Iron Man is coming”
Awarded the ‘Nobel Prize in Computational Engineering’
Kim Yoon-young, chair professor at Seoul National University

Kim Yoon-young (65), a chair professor at the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Seoul National University, is an engineer who is receiving more attention than ‘ChatGPT’ in the artificial intelligence (AI) academia these days. This is because he developed the world's first next-generation AI technology that goes beyond the limits of chat GPT. ‘ChatGPT’ is a service that when a user enters a question in the chat window, the AI gives the answer in sentences as if it were conversing. Upon its release in December of last year, it shook the global search market dominated by Google and Naver. But there were also limitations. Because they collect and processline data, they cannot come up with creative answers. There are many cases of incorrect answers.



Seoul National University chair professor Kim Yun-young developed the world's first AI to design customized machines with desired functions. With this AI, an exoskeleton robot was created that supports the wearer's forward and backward movements as well as left and right withlye motor. It is lighter than existing robots and enables smoother movements. / Lee Shin-young, video media reporter

On the other hand, the AI technology developed by Professor Kim provides answers that did not exist in the world. The official name of the AI technology he developed is “technology to autonomously design mechanical devices using computers.” In other words, if the user inputs the structure and function conditions of the desired mechanical device into the computer, the AI judges its own and comes up with a blueprint for the machine that meets the conditions in a matter of minutes.
The biggest strength of this technology is that it can implement a machine that does not exist in the world without learning from existing data. For example, if you ask 'design a wheel that can climb stairs stably', ChatGPT can't answer correctly, while Professor Kim's autonomous design technology AI creates a blueprint for a 'deformable wheel' in which the wheel surface splits in three directions. It is a way to show It is evaluated as an AI technology that ise step ahead of ChatGPT in that it creates ‘something out of nothing’. AI programs based this concept were tried at leading universities and research institutes in the United States, Europe, and Japan as the home robot development boom rose in the 2000s, but all failed. Professor Kim was the first in the world to obtain original technology in this field.
In recognition of his unique research achievements, Professor Kim was recently selected as the grand prize winner of the Japan Society of Computational Engineering, the ‘Nobel Prize in Computational Engineering’. Computational engineering is a discipline that efficiently performs complex engineering calculations with high-performance computers. In the meantime, American and European universities have dominated this award, but Professor Kim is the first Asian scholar to receive the honor. Professor Kim said, “I am delighted that Korea has shown the potential to become a first mover in the field of AI, which has been dominated by the US and Europe.”

◇ ‘Universal AI’ that designs anything
- The term ‘autonomous design technology for mechanical devices’ is difficult. What technology specifically is it?
“Simply put, it is a technology in which a computer automatically designs all moving mechanical devices to meet the user's needs. To make a car wiper, you need to put some motors in it and consider how to place the device that controls the speed of the wipers. It is a technology that finds out by itself how to connect the internal parts of the wiper and what structure to make to operate most efficiently.”

-Is it necessary AI technology to make car parts?
“Mechanical design for automobiles is possible with current technology. The problem is that the 4th Industrial Revolution technologies such as robots are more complex in structure, so it is becoming difficult to design efficient machines withly human brains. Now, in order to makee robot arm, engineers can decide whether to have three or four joints (joints) of the robot arm by making a prototype and testing it themselves. It takes several months, and there are limits to human thinking alone. The same study can be done in minutes with autonomous design technology.”

-Is there a case of designing a machine with AI technology?
“We are developing a next-generation exoskeleton robot. Developing a machine worn by a person is the most difficult. Currently developed exoskeleton robots, such as Samsung Electronics and Japan's Cyberdyne, assist the wearerly in the forward and backward direction. In order for a person to walk, they need to apply strength to the left and right, but current exoskeleton robots do not have this function, so the robot wearer has to walk while holding a cane in both hands. In order to assist with left and right power, separate motors that generate force in the left and right directions must be installed each leg, but in that case, the device would be too large and could not be made due to battery problems. In my lab, I succeeded in making a prototype of an exoskeleton robot that supports the wearer's front and rear as well as the left and right sides of the body with a single motor. Starting this month, we are conducting performance tests real people.”

-What are the principles of autonomous design technology?
“It is easy to understand compared to ChatGPT, which is a hot topic these days. ChatGPT brilliantly organizes what has already been said. But that's it. If you ask for a car design that is optimal for air resistance, you will find a picture of a car machine that has already been released. It is difficult to use to create new products. Unlike ChatGPT, ‘autonomous design technology’ does not require existing data. It is not bound by the old design syntax. It automatically designs machines that can operate according toly the fundamental laws of physics.”

- To what extent has the technology been developed?
“Autonomous design technology will be almost complete this year. In the future, it is expected that even general users who do not have expertise in mechanical engineering, such as ChatGPT, can develop into a service that creates blueprints when they order, “Design a robot with such and such functions.” It may be in the future, but if this technology develops further, the era of making robots in the desired form by verbally ordering AI may come, just like Tony Stark in the movie Iron Man.”


Professor Kim Yoon-young explains the 'deformable wheel' in which the wheel surface is divided into three. / Lee Shin-young, video media reporter

◇Creating a new field from a different perspective beyond common sense
Kim Yoon-young did not originally major in computer programming, and he is not an orthodox robotics engineer. He introduced himself as “I was able to pioneer a new field of study by widening the field of research I had done during my doctorate and looking at other fields from my own point of view, different from the traditionale.” In 2011, he opened an art exhibition by drawing abstract paintings with an AI program he developed, and made Seoul National University souvenirs with designs that transformed the Seoul National University logo.

- What was your original field of study?
“Among mechanical engineering, I have studied car body structure design for a long time. It was a field of research how to design a car body to be structurally stable by analyzing what changes occur when force is applied to which part. Then, in 2007, he started developing technology to design moving machines.”

-It must not have been easy for a professor to suddenly jump into a new field.
“I had a great desire to pioneer new studies. The ‘Autonomous design technology’, in which a computer automatically designs a moving machine, has never been successful, so there was no previous research to refer to, and unlike car bodies, it was difficult because there were many parts to consider. At first, it took seven years to write a paper. American and European engineers also tried to develop autonomous design technology, but all gave up.”

-How did you achieve your research results?
“In November of last year, we presented ‘autonomous design technology’ at the world-renowned international robotics conference held in Busan. After the presentation, notly professors majoring in robotics, but also global companies such as European airline Airbus, Samsung Electronics, and Hyundai Motor Company suggested that they would like to use my research results. It seems that the secret to my success is not because I am better than robot majors, but because of my research experience in other fields, and because I have approached it from a perspective that scholars have never seen before. In real life, it is dangerous to cross someone else's house, but in the academic world, it seems to broadene's creative perspective.”

◇Professor showing picture storybook in engineering class
Kim Yoon-young is known as the “fairy tale’s Book Professor” among Seoul National University students. This is because he shows picture storybooks in class to develop students' imagination. He is also a self-written author of children's books. In 2004, he wrote his children's book 'The Secret of Mount Umyeon' and won the grand prize for a feature-length fairy tale at the MBC Creative Fairy Tale Awards. It is a sci-fi genre fairy tale in which the main characters and siblings go to Umyeonsan Mountain in search of a grass called Immuncho and are sucked into the underground world to venture in a situation where an unknown epidemic is spreading across the country.

- Why do you show picture books to students?
“The motto of our lab is ‘Let's study and leave it’. Engineers who do engineering must produce results that can contribute to society, and creativity is vital to that. If you are buriedly in the books of your major, you willly become a fast follower (pursuer).”

- Are picture books effective for grown adults?
“My wife, who is a picture book critic, has a big influence the use of picture books in class. With the help of his wife, he introduced children's books with good messages. If you show David McPhail's 'The Mole That Changed the World' to students who are thinking about their career, everyone will be moved. In a fairy tale, a mole plays a violin in the ground, and a soldier is inspired by the music and ends the war. The mole does not know how his performance affects the world. Entrepreneurs who are now leading the AI industry in Silicon Valley in the US are also people who have consistently done what they love, no matter what anyone says.”

- The process of writing a children's book yourself was also fun.
“When my son and daughter were young, I told them a science fiction fairy tale I made up before going to bed. Since it was a fantasy story with scientific knowledge, the children enjoyed it, ande of them was ‘The Secret of Mount Umyeon’. Among my acquaintances, there was a time when ‘Secret of Mount Umyeon’, which dealt with infectious diseases, became a small topic of conversation for predicting the corona. (Laughs)”

◇ “I want to change Korea without the world’s No. 1 technology”
Professor Kim Yoon-young will retire from the Seoul National University next year. As his research achievements became known, he recently received scouting offers from leading universities in the United States. However, he said, "rather than going abroad, I would like to stay in Korea and realize another dream that I have cherished for a long time," he said. He wants to set up a science and engineering support foundation and invest in creative research to develop the world's first technology like himself.

-What kind of business are you going to do with the Foundation?
“Korea is numbere in the world in terms of products, but there is no ‘technology numbere’. This is because the original technology is weak. I think it was BTS that made us numbere in the world for the first time. Don't people all over the world imitate BTS songs in Korean? In the field of science and technology, I think we should do our own creative research like BTS. However, it is difficult to receive support for research that is difficult to produce results right away in Korea. While meeting entrepreneurs, we are looking for a support system for researchers to create something new.”

-What made you think of the science and engineering foundation?
“All the computer languages needed for computer program coding, which is the basis of AI, were created in the United States and Europe. Leading cutting-edge technologies such as blockchain and quantum computers all started in the United States. I began to think about a science and engineering foundation that supports creative research in the question of 'why can't we come up with a new version like this'. K-pop and K-dramas are popular, but there is no such thing as K-tech.”

- How would you like to change the research environment?
“In our country, creativity is obliterated because of the entrance exam-oriented education represented by the CSAT. Even if there is a genius, you can't raise them properly, so college should be changed first. New technologies and creativity come from the convergence process where different disciplines meet. But how you meet is important. Currently, I am mainly following the method in the United States, but I believe that a new research method and research system suitable for Korean scholars/researchers can create the world's best technology. Even if the results are not immediately visible, I believe that the day will come when our country will develop the world's best technologyce this new research method and system are established. In other words, it is to carry the spirit of King Sejong’s invention of Hangeul to the modern age.”

An Engineer Who Surprised ChatGPT “The era of making robots at home like Iron Man is coming” - Chosun Ilbo (chosun.com)