(From the left) Seojin Lee of the Data Construction/Evaluation Team, Suhyun Lim of the Platform Application Team, and Seonyeon Kim of the Telco Partnership Team.
In celebration of International Women’s Day on March 8, we met three female members who are active in various activities in the SKT AI organization, including telco LLM model development, language data construction, and global business partnerships.
International Women’s Day was officially designated by the United Nations on March 8, 1975. The theme for this year’s International Women’s Day 2024 announced by the United Nations is “Invest in Woman*.” The three female members of SKT all welcomed the women’s challenge with open arms. The entry barrier into the AI field may be high, but if you don’t be afraid to take on the challenge, you can succeed. In particular, we hoped that women would not miss out on opportunities in the AI era, where AI is becoming widespread throughout life and industry. Through interviews with three female members of SKT, we look into the work and lives of female office workers in the AI field.
*Source: UN Women website [클릭]
“A linguist developing a ‘telco LLM model’ specialized for telecommunication companies” – Seojin Lee, Data Construction/Evaluation Team
Seojin Lee works in the data construction/evaluation team to build language data for LLM model development and evaluate the model. Seojin Lee is a linguist (linguist) who majored in criticism in graduate school. She is working on teaching language to AI. It is very unfamiliar to have a linguist with a liberal arts background in a big tech company, especially on a team that deals with AI. Seojin Lee, who has been working as a linguist for 12 years, never thought he would end up working in an AI organization.
Seojin Lee, Data Construction/Evaluation Team
Q. Please explain the work you are currently responsible for.
A. The team I belong to is working on developing a Telco LLM* specialized for telecommunication companies. A Telco LLM requires understanding a variety of Telco terminology, accurately understanding the customer’s intent, and searching appropriate databases to provide natural and useful answers. Three linguists, including myself, are working to design and secure various language data for this purpose.
*Specialized LLM that learns the logic and knowledge of the existing telecommunications industry
Another important task for our team is evaluating model performance. The task is to understand the current performance of LLM, analyze issues, and make improvements. To accurately measure performance, we develop professional evaluation indicators and conduct detailed analysis of the evaluation results. Through this process, we are finding points for improvement in the model that are difficult to identify through automatic evaluation analysis alone.
Q. I heard that you majored in Korean language and literature as a non-developer. How did you end up working in AI?
A. I majored in criticism in graduate school. Actually, I never thought I would work at an IT company. After graduating from graduate school, I started working as a linguist to make use of my Korean literature major. Even now, it was an even more unknown profession at the time. Linguists teach models to understand Korean. At first, I started without knowing anything. It has been 12 years since I worked as a linguist, experiencing new technologies and tasks without getting bored, such as developing artificial intelligence speakers, developing free conversation models, and developing and evaluating LLM models.
Q. Please tell us your future plans and aspirations.
A. I want to have fun working. I first started working on the LLM model at SKT. As I was exposed to a lot of new technologies, there were a lot of things to study and difficult things to do, but there were also a lot of fun things to do. Our goal this year is to increase model performance and find more advanced evaluation methods than before to specifically analyze vulnerabilities. Currently, our team is working hard to create a benchmark set to accurately understand the various capabilities of the Telco LLM model. By bringing together the minds of our team of developers and linguists, we would like to create a benchmark set that can accurately determine the strengths and weaknesses of various LLM models.
“Collaboration with global LLM companies is always new, and we are taking on challenges without hesitation” – Telco LLM Development PM Soohyun Lim
Soohyun Lim is working as a PM to develop a telco LLM in collaboration with ‘OpenAI’, the creator of ChatGPT, and ‘Antropic’, the most notable AI innovation company in the United States. She enjoys challenging new things without hesitation, so it seems like fate that she met SKT, which is heading beyond Big Tech and heading toward becoming a global AI company.
Soohyun Lim, Platform Application Team
Q. Please explain the work you are currently responsible for.
A. My name is Soohyun Lim and I am from the Platform Application Team of the Global AI/Tech Division. I am currently working as a PM developing a Telco LLM in collaboration with OpenAI and Antropic. Although I graduated from an engineering school, I majored in industrial engineering, which had a strong tendency toward liberal arts. So, I think I mainly played the role of PM working among developers. I love testing out new technologies. Recently, I have become interested in testing LLM (Large Language Model) and am also working on prompt engineering*.
*The process of designing instructions to be entered into the prompt (command input window) so that AI can produce optimal results.
Q. How long have you been working in the AI field?
A. It has been about 5 years since I worked at SKT. She has been with the AI organization for five years. I joined the R&D organization called T-Brain and worked as an evangelist to promote SKT’s AI research results internally and externally. The AI technology strategy department directly under the CTO conducted AI ethics work. In particular, I am very interested in the ethical use of generative language models in the AI field, and have been working as a PM in an LLM development organization since the year before last.
Q. Please tell us about your future plans and aspirations.
A. I want to do something with more responsibility. I want to expand into more proactive and communicative work, and I want to make connections with a variety of people using the technology I really love. Coincidentally, as I was busy testing and researching Antropic’s LLM, Claude, yesterday, it was naturally night time. I will work hard until the day when I can do what I love without restrictions.
“10 years of partnership work in line with the company’s direction… “Currently, we are focusing on cooperation with global telcos” – Telco Partnership Team Leader Kim Seon-yeon
Team leader Kim Seon-yeon is working on AI business partnerships with global telcos in the Telco Partnership Team. He has been involved in investment and partnership work for over 10 years, and has grown to feel the company’s growth and direction better than anyone else.
Telco Partnership Team Leader Kim Seon-yeon
Q. Please explain the work you are currently responsible for.
A. Our organization is pursuing the launch of the Global Telco AI Alliance (GTAA) with global telecommunications companies as its main task, and at MWC24 last month, GTAA’s top executives gathered together and concluded a contract to establish an artificial intelligence joint venture. In addition, we are in charge of operational planning for the ‘Global Telco AI Roundtable’, a consultative body created to discuss legal, ethical, and technical aspects and systems in the AI area and to accelerate the introduction of AI by telecommunications companies.
Q. How long have you been working in the AI field?
A. I have been working in investment and partnership for over 10 years. When it comes to investments and partnerships, it is essential to understand the company’s direction and find and partner with companies that are essential to that strategy. Since our company selected AIVERSE* as its core business area and declared its vision to become a global AI company, we have been discussing AI cooperation with global businesses in line with this.
*A compound word of AI and Universe. A service that encompasses AI, metaverse, and subscription economy (T Universe)
Q. Please tell us about your future plans and aspirations.
A. Our company has now taken the first step toward becoming a global AI company. So far, we have declared our business vision and reached out for partnerships. However, I was able to feel the industry’s great interest in the Telco LLM and Global Telco AI Alliance that our company presented at MWC. In the future, we expect that more and more telco companies and big tech operators will want to join hands with our company’s AI technology and products.
We hope that more talented women will take on the challenge of working in the AI field… A good opportunity is open
We asked three female members how they felt about working in an organization that shares the company’s vision and what they would like to say to women who dream of working in the AI field.
Q. Do you three feel that SKT is taking a leap forward as a ‘global AI company’? I think this resonates with me more because I work in an AI organization.
A. Soohyun Lim: SKT is expanding collaboration with various big tech companies as well as Open AI and Antropic based on Telco LLM. I realize that our company’s AI business is progressing on a global level. For example, in collaboration with AWS, we have begun collaboration with GPU infrastructure providers that can learn and serve Telco LLM. Personally, I find it very impressive to see continued expansion of cooperation with global LLM companies.
A. Team leader Kim Seon-yeon: The pace of development in the AI field and the collaboration of various industries seeking to introduce AI are remarkable. Full-fledged competition and cooperation among big tech and AI tech companies seeking to win in the newly unfolding AI industrial revolution are becoming visible. Here, our company is creating another force by joining forces with global telecommunications companies. Many of the concerns expressed about whether telcos can compete with big tech are disappearing, and more and more telecommunication companies are trying to join hands with confidence in the competitiveness of telco data-based AI business.
Q. How do you feel about the performance of women in the AI field? Are there any areas in the AI field where AI-related investment should be made for women in their jobs or lives?
A. Soohyun Lim: In fact, there are fewer women. In particular, it is difficult to find female developers in development organizations. The entry barrier may be high, but I think you can succeed if you start with something you are passionate about. I think it would be better if there were investments that would open up related opportunities. I think there are many people who don’t even know about the opportunity or think that there is no opportunity and pass by. In particular, although LLM has a large development area, prompting can be challenging even for non-developers. Prompting is the process of writing down instructions on how to convey instructions to the language model. I hope it becomes known that there are new jobs like this.
A. Seojin Lee: I believe that expanding the participation and representation of women in the AI field is essential to ensure diversity and develop unbiased technology. From a data perspective, bias in training data is always an important issue. Incorporating diverse perspectives and experiences is essential to developing more innovative and fair models. There are many outstanding female talents in the SKT AI field. Our team leader, which is rare in a development organization, is also a woman.
Q. Lastly, is there anything you would like to say to women who dream of working in the AI field?
A. Team leader Kim Seon-yeon: The AI field is an area where the world that people have dreamed of for a long time is now becoming concrete and visible. Opportunities are given to those who quickly take on challenges and develop the necessary capabilities, regardless of gender.
A. Soohyun Lim: There’s a motto I always think of: ‘Don’t be scared and take on the challenge!’ no see. When I actually knocked on the door, it opened a lot. I would like to share opportunities for growth with others as much as possible.
Seeing the three female members working with pride and confidence in their work makes me very excited about the realization of SKT’s global AI company that they will lead in the future.
■ What is the daily life of SKT’s female members?
What is the daily life of the three female members of the SKT AI organization like? I asked them about the three things they invest the most in their lives.
#reading
As a literature student who once dreamed of becoming a critic, my biggest hobby is reading. I love paper books. When work is hard, I read a lot of horror novels and mystery novels.
#(someone else’s house) puppy
I’m a homebody who doesn’t like going out. What makes me exercise every weekend is someone else’s dog (Ma-chan, Retriever, 11 years old, my friend’s dog).
#Pilates
I started Pilates to get rid of the turtle neck I got from working in the AI field for 12 years. My Pilates teacher worries a lot because I only like stretching and hate core exercises.#fashion
I like trendy things. I am very interested in fashion that can best reflect this, and I am also investing in it. By purchasing and trying on various brands or items, I not only see what my tastes are, but also see what is trendy these days. When I combine various items, my imagination seems to become richer and I am able to express myself better.
#food
I usually relieve stress with delicious food. I especially like exploring new restaurants and dishes I haven’t tried before. I don’t know why I’m always so drawn to new things. (Laughs) Food is truly endless.
#career
I am now doing what I love. I think that’s why sometimes it doesn’t feel like work. I work hard to realize my values and invest a lot of time in doing so. A new challenge is always fun!#work out
I have experience with many different types of exercise. Each exercise provides different pleasures and benefits, and learning new skills gives you great confidence and self-satisfaction.#Sports Climbing
Among them, the exercise I would like to introduce is ‘sport climbing.’ It’s been about 5 years since I joined. I feel a great sense of accomplishment when I succeed and reach the last hold of each course by continuing to challenge myself in various ways on courses that I couldn’t overcome because they were too difficult the first time I tried. Sports climbing requires physical strength, strength, concentration, and a spirit of challenge, so there are many people who work out together and do their best in everything they do.
