SK chief urges world to use AI to create social value

SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won delivers an opening speech during the Nanjing Forum 2019 held in Nanjing, the capital of China's eastern Jiangsu Province, Saturday. / Courtesy of SK Group

By Kwak Yeon-soo

SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won has called on the global community to ramp up efforts to create social value by utilizing artificial intelligence (AI) and other emerging technologies, the company said Sunday.

Under the topic "Open the AI, Open the Future," Nanjing Forum 2019 was attended by international corporate leaders, scholars and political figures.

During his opening speech, Chey said society needs to come up with a system to measure the social value created by emerging technologies.

"Emerging technologies such as AI and machine learning are raising new concerns," he said. "To make sure such technologies best support humanity, we need a new system to measure their social value."

At the forum, Chey introduced cases in which SK Group applied AI and big data in the fields of semiconductors, electric vehicle (EV) batteries and advanced materials to create social value.

"The big data analysis on EV battery consumption revealed that extending battery life and recycling can help reduce environmental pollution and increase consumer benefits," he said.

According to SK Group, its social value is measured in three areas: indirect contributions to the economy such as tax payments and employment; business activity which includes environmental pollution; and social contributions in the form of donations and volunteer activities.

"We developed the Double Bottom Line (DBL), a quantitative measure of fundamental impact of all SK-led business activities from the environmental, social and governance aspects," he said.

The SK chief has emphasized corporate social value at domestic and international events.

In August, SK joined with German chemical company BASF SE to establish the Value Balancing Alliance (VBA), a nonprofit organization to jointly develop tools to measure social value by 2022.

The company is also working on measures to do this with China's state asset management committee.

SK Group joined hands with Nanjing University to establish the "Intelligent Solutions Joint Innovation Center" and nurture specialists in related disciplines.

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