The research team of Professor Koo Myoung-wan of Sogang University's Department of Computer Science & Engineering — together with Kim Min-ju of the Department of Korean Language and Literature (interdepartmental major in Convergence Software), Yeon Hee-yeon of the Department of Art & Technology (interdepartmental major in Big Data Science), Choi Ye-rin of Economics (double major in Computer Science & Engineering), Kim Dong-geun of the Department of Mathematics (interdepartmental major in Big Data Science), Park Jun-ho of the Department of Mathematics (major in Electronic Engineering), and researchers Lee Jung-pil and Hong Hyun-eui (both graduates of the Department of Computer Science & Engineering) — entered the 2021 Artificial Intelligence Grand Challenge and took first place in the speech recognition category (Track 2) of the third-stage contest (10–12 November), receiving the Minister of Science and ICT Prize along with 475 million won in research funding for 2022 (https://www.ai-challenge.or.kr/). To apply AI technology to legal provisions on intimidation, extortion and blackmail in particular, the team also conducted joint research with Professor Hong Dae-sik of the Law School and law students including Ko Seung-hwan, Yoon Min, Choi Byung-hwa and Hwang Jae-woong.

The same research team had previously taken first place in speech recognition at the first-stage contest held in July 2021, securing 200 million won in research funding, and secured 667 million won at the second-stage contest in 2021.

The Artificial Intelligence Grand Challenge is a challenge-and-competition style research and development (R&D) contest in which participants compete with algorithms they have developed to solve set problems.

Held under the theme 'Solve a Range of Regional Problems Using Artificial Intelligence Technology', the 2021 Artificial Intelligence Grand Challenge runs in four stages over three years to 2022 across four tracks — emergency situations (behaviour recognition), violent situations (speech recognition), household waste sorting (object recognition), and reducing power consumption through AI optimization and lightweighting — with the aim of creating a convenient and safe living environment through AI technology.

The third-stage contest set tasks of greater difficulty than the first and second stages. It too was conducted online, with one team selected per track for best solving the given objectives; Sogang University's ISDS team will receive 475 million won in follow-on research funding for 2022 to prepare for the final-stage contest scheduled for November 2022.