PeopleofSuperintelligence

Researcher

Jinjoon Lee

Also known as Julian Jinjoon Lee, Lee Jin-joon

Jinjoon Lee is a media artist and KAIST professor who builds artworks from generative AI and biometric data. He studied business and then sculpture at Seoul National University, took an MA at the Royal College of Art in 2017, and earned a DPhil in Fine Art at Oxford's Ruskin School of Art in 2021. After joining KAIST in 2021, he sent G-Dragon's music and iris imagery into space through a KAIST satellite antenna in April 2025 and directed the outdoor performance Cine-Forest: Awakening Bloom in Seongnam in September 2025. In March 2026, the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford acquired Empty Garden, his ten-metre scroll thesis. He is an associate professor at KAIST, where he is founding director of the Art & Technology Center and leads the TX Creative AI Lab, and KAIST's College of AI lists creative AI and human-AI co-creation among his fields.

Now at
KAIST

Timeline

  1. 2001

    From business to sculpture

    He graduates from the Business School at Seoul National University in 2001, tries his hand at startups, and then returns to the university to earn a BFA and MFA in sculpture.

  2. 2017–2021

    Royal College of Art and Oxford

    He earns an MA from the Royal College of Art in London in 2017 and a DPhil in Fine Art from the Ruskin School of Art at the University of Oxford in 2021. His doctoral thesis, Empty Garden, takes the form of a ten-metre hanji scroll.

  3. 2021

    Joining KAIST and the TX Lab

    He joins the faculty of KAIST's Graduate School of Culture Technology in 2021 and goes on to run its TX Lab, a research group devoted to turning biometric data into media art.

  4. 2024

    Talks on generative AI

    In 2024, he delivers a keynote lecture at the BIFAN+ AI International Conference of the 28th Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival. His DESIGN KOREA 2024 talk explores how generative AI is changing the way people think about artistic creation and art.

  5. April 2025

    Good Morning, Mr. G-Dragon

    In April 2025, his generative AI-driven media artwork Good Morning, Mr. G-Dragon sends G-Dragon's iris imagery and music into space through the antenna of a KAIST small satellite. KAIST describes it as the world's first transmission of music based on media art into space.

  6. September 2025

    Cine-Forest in Seongnam

    In September 2025, he directs Cine-Forest: Awakening Bloom at Bundang Central Park in Seongnam, an outdoor media performance that combines ultra-high-resolution projections, a 70-piece orchestra and AI-generated compositions with the sounds of the forest and the city.

  7. March 2026

    Empty Garden at the Ashmolean

    The Ashmolean Museum in Oxford acquires Empty Garden, his ten-metre hanji scroll thesis, for its permanent collection in March 2026. He is the first contemporary Korean artist to have a work enter the museum's permanent collection.

  8. As of October 2026

    Professor at KAIST

    He is an associate professor at KAIST, where he is founding director of the Art & Technology Center and leads the TX Creative AI Lab. KAIST's College of AI also lists him as an adjunct professor, with new media art, creative AI and critical AI as research areas and generative AI and human-AI co-creation among his core AI competencies.

Career

  1. Since 2021KAISTAssociate Professor

Education

  1. 2021University of OxfordDPhil in Fine Art
  2. 2017Royal College of ArtMA
  3. 2001Seoul National UniversityBFA and MFA in sculpture

From the biography.

  1. The United States employs an estimated 48% of people shaping AIIncludes KAIST. We estimate where the people shaping AI work today, how universities, companies and research institutes split across countries, and how country shares have changed since the 1960s.
  2. More people shaping AI studied at Massachusetts Institute of Technology than at any other institutionIncludes KAIST. We estimate where the people shaping AI studied and where their careers led. Massachusetts Institute of Technology leads with 467 former students, including 291 recorded doctorates.
  3. The company share of AI researchers’ top papers was 31% in 2020–2024 and 8% in 1970–1974Includes KAIST. We estimate where the people shaping AI worked when their most-cited papers appeared: the company share was 31% in 2020–2024 and 8% in 1970–1974, and Google led all organizations in 2020–2024.
  4. 44% of AI career moves go from one university to anotherIncludes KAIST. We estimate how 26,439 AI career moves link universities, companies, labs, nonprofits and government research centers, with decade counts, net flows and the top paths.

Colleagues

People with dated positions at the same organization in the same years.

Sources and credits

Photo: We have no published photo of Jinjoon Lee yet. Send us a free-licensed photo.

  1. JULIAN JINJOON LEE - ARTIST leejinjoon.com. Checked 21 October 2026.
  2. [Herald Design Lounge 2026] For Lee Jin-joon, your body is the last thing you can trust - The Korea Herald koreaherald.com. Checked 21 October 2026.
  3. The Ruskin School of Art - dr-jinjoon-lees-empty-garden-acquired-by-the-ashmolean-museum rsa.ox.ac.uk. Checked 21 October 2026.
  4. Keynote Lecture at the 28th Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival AI International Conference, professor Jinjoon Lee tx.kaist.ac.kr. Checked 21 October 2026.
  5. Group Exhibition in MMCA Cheongju tx.kaist.ac.kr. Checked 21 October 2026.
  6. KAIST launches Korean rapper G-Dragon’s music into space - KED Global kedglobal.com. Checked 21 October 2026.
  7. Bridging Media Art and East Asian Philosophy in the AI Era | Languages, Arts and Societies | The University of Sheffield sheffield.ac.uk. Checked 21 October 2026.
  8. JULIAN JINJOON LEE leejinjoon.com. Checked 21 October 2026.
  9. 'AI is a new nature — designers must tend it, not conquer it,' says KAIST professor - The Herald Business biz.heraldcorp.com. Checked 21 October 2026.
  10. Faculty | AX aicollege.kaist.ac.kr. Checked 21 October 2026.