Korea should adopt a more systematic approach to educating artificial intelligence (AI) specialists, as the country lags far behind global peers in the number of AI experts and related educational infrastructure, according to data and experts, Monday.
Data from Element AI, a Canadian AI pioneer, shows that Korea ranked 22nd in the number of AI specialists. There are 2,551 AI experts here, accounting for only 0.5 percent of the global total. The U.S. topped the list with an overwhelming 39.4 percent. Korea was also way behind other Asian countries, such as India and China, which ranked second and fourth, respectively.
Experts cited the absence of a cohesive education system as the key reason behind Korea’s weak profile in the global AI race.
“We advise the government to establish a control tower dedicated to fostering AI talent,” Park Dong, a senior researcher at the Korea Research Institute for Vocational Education and Training (KRIVET), said in a research report requested by the Federation of Korean Industries (FKI).
The U.S. and China, for instance, have well-organized AI education systems headed by their central governments, according to the researcher. China’s State Council devises long-term AI development plans at the national level, which are utilized by the country’s education authority to train AI specialists.
gettyimagesbank
The U.S. National Science and Technology Council also focuses on mapping out the nation’s overall AI advancement strategy, while the Department of Education serves as the control tower when it comes to teaching underlying technologies, such as computer science.
But this is not the case for Korea.
Critics say there is no consistent policy overseeing AI education here, with multiple government ministries pursuing their own objectives without any uniformity.
“Given that President Yoon Suk Yeol and his administration included a plan to nurture more than 1 million digital experts on the list of state agenda, the presidential office is advised to be the control tower and formulate AI development policies,” the expert said.
He also underscored the urgent need to enhance basic AI education in elementary, middle and high schools.
Others also said Korea needs more time to enhance its global AI presene, as it has not been long since universities here began offering in-depth AI education.
“The problem is the outflow of quality AI researchers here,” Kim Kyung-joong, a professor of computer science and engineering at Sejong University, said. “Industry-leading IT players overseas pay a lot more money to AI experts than their Korean counterparts, so the reality is that most top-class AI experts prefer to work abroad.”
Industry sources also voiced the importance of building better AI education systems nationwide.
“The shortage of not just the number of AI experts, but the quality of AI workers is adding concerns felt by the industry,” said Choo Kwang-ho, the chief of the economic research division at FKI. “We need to upgrade the quality of our basic AI education systems for each phase of education in elementary, middle and high schools by recruiting more quality AI experts.”
![[INTERVIEW] How AmazeVR revolutionizes aespa's LYNK-POP concert](https://img.koreatimes.co.kr/upload/thumbnailV2/4431833759c44bdaa414cb314e90f2fe.jpg/dims/resize/178/optimize)
