LG’s super-giant AI, EXAONE become a pioneer in the design field with Parsons School of Design

NEW YORK, Sept. 13, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — LG is stepping up efforts to develop artificial  intelligence(AI) that support humans in learning and expanding their creativity in art and design practices by leveraging the joint academic research partnership with Parsons School of  Design, the No. 1 U.S. art and design school.


(from Left)Joakun Kwon(LG AI Research), Jeongki Lim(Parsons), Adam Brown(Parsons), Yvonne Watson (Parsons), Cynthia Lawson Jaramillo(Parsons), Ben Barry(Parsons), Kyunghoon Bae(LG AI Research), Meg Kaufmann(Parsons), Seunghwan Kim(LG AI Research)

LG AI Research, the AI research hub of South Korean conglomerate LG Group, today made the  “LG AI Research & TNS Parsons Collaboration” at the campus of Parsons School of Design  (Parsons) at The New School in New York.

LG AI Research will do a broad range of joint research for advanced AI technologies and emerging research domains in creativity and technology with the world’s renowned experts in fashion, design, and media at Parsons for three years.

LG AI Research and Parsons will engage in collaborative academic research activities that will facilitate the development of AI-enabled applications in design and art practices and disseminate its findings through publications and public events. One of the initial goals of the partnership is to examine how generative AI technology can be meaningfully integrated into the everyday practices of artists and designers.

LG AI Research plans to integrate all the research outcomes into the “EXAONE Atelier”, an ideation AI platform that supports collaborative work between AI and designers and artists. It will be based on the LG AI Research’s super-giant AI, named EXAONE, a multi-modal  AI that has learned over 600 billion corpora and 350 million high-resolution images, and can convert texts and images freely.

“EXAONE Atelier” is expected to be the first ideation AI platform based on the super-giant AI that is designed to support artists and designers to expand their creativity in their professional practices.

An LG AI Research official said, “Through interviews with Parsons, LG AI Research team  identified the features of super-giant AI EXAONE that need to be tuned to collaborate with artists and designers. The EXAONE Atelier also has been developing by harmonizing the power  of EXAONE and the idea of structural creation process through diverse combinations of  thoughts rather than just creating something out of nothing.”

The partnership between Parsons and LG AI Research formally launches on September 14 at the Creativity & AI Inaugural Symposium with a significant question: “What is the current trajectory of AI technology’s impact on the creative industries, and what kind of future can be co-created through collaboration between the technology and creative communities?

In addition, LG AI Research will support a hackathon from September 17-18 to research how emerging creative professionals can incorporate AI in their creative process and reflect on its implications critically. 

Moving forward, LG AI Research will continue to upgrade the EXAONE Atelier by integrating insights from the joint research project into the platform, as well as widen the collaboration opportunities with other global and domestic partners in Korea.

Kyunghoon Bae, Chief of LG AI Research, said, “Through a deeper level of collaboration with  Parsons, LG AI Research would like to develop an expert AI, which could maximize human creativity and productivity by understanding not only thoughts and ideas but also knowhow and  expertise from a variety of expert humans. Moreover, we will continue to improve and polish the  EXAONE Atelier to become as a state-of-the-art global ideation AI platform that helps all  humans become designers and artists as long as they have ideas, not just as a drawing tool.”

Cynthia Lawson Jaramillo, Dean of the School of Design Strategies of Parsons School of  Design, added, “I’m delighted to see this partnership between LG AI Research and Parsons  School of Design. For more than 125 years, Parsons has been committed to the forefront of art  and design education. This partnership further solidifies that commitment, as what is more  future-facing than exploring the intersections of art, design, creativity, and AI.”

“In the School of Design Strategies, we design the immaterial: systems, services, communities,  futures, and more. We always focused on the world’s most complex issues. I’m looking forward  to seeing what comes of this partnership, and I’m excited by how transformative I expect it will  be for all involved,” Lawson said.

Ben Barry, Dean of the School of Fashion of Parsons School of Design, said, “With the leadership of Professor Jeongki Lim, this partnership between Parsons and LG will cultivate critical dialogue and insights about the relationship between AI and creativity. It will provide opportunities for Parsons students and faculty to work alongside LG industry leaders to explore emerging issues that arise when human and non-human actors engage in collective creative practice. This research will create a research agenda for creativity and technology that will impact industry and academic practice for years to come.”

About LG AI Research 

Launched in December 2020 as an affiliate of South Korean conglomerate LG Group, LG AI  Research aims to lead the next epoch of artificial intelligence (AI) to realize a promising future  by providing optimal research environments and leveraging state-of-the-art AI technologies.

For more information, visit www.lgresearch.ai

About Parsons School of Design 

Parsons School of Design is one of the leading institutions for art and design education in the  world. Based in New York but active around the world, the school offers undergraduate and  graduate programs in the full spectrum of art and design disciplines. Critical thinking and  collaboration are at the heart of a Parsons education. Parsons graduates are leaders in their  respective fields, with a shared commitment to creatively and critically addressing the  complexities of life in the 21st century.  

For more information, visit www.newschool.edu/parsons.


(from Left)Yvonne Watson (Parsons), Kyunghoon Bae(LG AI Research)