Yi Whan-woo is a Korea Times journalist primarily covering finance. He writes in-depth articles on macroeconomy and financial markets and previously covered sports, politics, diplomacy and inter-Korean affairs, among others. Feel free to contact him at yistory@koreatimes.co.kr.
Ethical framework crucial to cope with fast growth of AI: finance minister
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance Choo Kyung-ho delivers a speech during a forum, titled “Survival and Growth Strategies in the AI Era," co-hosted by The Korea Times and McKinsey & Company at the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) building in central Seoul, Wednesday. Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul
By Yi Whan-woo
Top economic policymaker vows to share Korea's Digital Bill of Rights with world
An ethical framework on the use of technologies must be newly defined side by side with fast-growing artificial intelligence (AI) that is reshaping the era of digital transformation, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance Choo Kyung-ho said, Wednesday.
Speaking before an AI forum co-hosted by The Korea Times and McKinsey & Company in central Seoul, the minister said Korea correspondingly will share its policy direction on the ethical use of AI with the international community.
“Ethical guidelines and norms must be addressed in accordance with the development of AI, for the technology to have a positive impact on society,” he said in a congratulatory speech during the forum, titled “Survival and Growth Strategies in the AI Era,” at the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) building.
The country’s top economic policymaker said fierce competition over next-generation AI has been “in full swing” among leading countries since the advent of ChatGPT, a hyperscale AI service launched by U.S. tech lab OpenAI in November of 2022.
While the birth of AI dates back to the 1950s, ChatGPT is often regarded as a tipping point for the technology, because it carries out conversations and other human-like tasks more accurately and creatively than previous models.
The minister said AI, with its groundbreaking development, is drawing attention as “a game changer for the lives of human beings.”
For instance, Microsoft, Google, Amazon and other global big tech firms are spending massive amounts of money to be at the forefront of the AI race.
“But at the same time, concerns are rising on ethics, labor and other related social domains,” Choo said, referring to AI’s possible interference with privacy and civil liberties protected by the Constitution and also the replacement of human workers.
He noted that the government outlined the Digital Bill of Rights in September last year, which addresses freedom, fairness, safety, innovation and solidarity as a set of five ideal principles to be observed to realize a new digital order.
The bill is comparable to preemptive measures documented in advanced economies to avoid the pitfalls of AI, such as the AI Bill of Rights in the United States and the AI Act in the European Union.
“We’ll share policy directions addressed in the Digital Bill of Rights with the international community,” the minister said.
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance Choo Kyung-ho, right, shakes hands with Korea Times Chairman Seung Myung-ho during a VIP tea meeting prior to a forum, titled “Survival and Growth Strategies in the AI Era," co-hosted by The Korea Times and McKinsey & Company at the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) building in central Seoul, Wednesday. Korea Times photo by Choi Won-suk
Groundwork for global AI governance
He added that Korea “looks forward to taking part in laying the groundwork for the global governance of AI, in cooperation with both the public and private sectors.”
An ongoing discussion addressed by Choo on the international level included setting up an autonomous organization within the United Nations.
Along with the Digital Bill of Rights, Korea picked AI as one of the top 20 prioritized projects in next year’s budget.
The relevant ministries are taking follow-up measures, including the finance ministry that earmarked 1.2 trillion won ($894.18 million) for AI-related investments, up 15.8 percent from 2023.
Of the 1.2 trillion won, 900 billion won is planned “to make AI common practice for every member of Korean society,” according to Choo. The plan includes AI robots to care for seniors living alone and AI-powered digital textbooks for elementary, junior and senior high school students.
The minster also hosted a meeting in August to learn up-to-date news from AI experts in academia, business and other private sectors and solicit their advice for government policies.
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance Choo Kyung-ho delivers a congratulatory speech during a forum, titled “Survival and Growth Strategies in the AI Era," co-hosted by The Korea Times and McKinsey & Company at the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) building in central Seoul, Wednesday. Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul
The forum was attended by ministers ― Choo and Minister of Employment and Labor Lee Jung-sik ― as well as CEOs and executives, both from Korean and foreign businesses, scholars and ambassadors, reflecting growing interest in AI across a range of fields.
After Choo’scongratulatory address, the labor minister delivered a special speech on changes in the job market and prospects in the AI era.
He used a script that was partly created by AI, which was hardly noticed by the audience until he mentioned it, in a bid to share how AI is capable of performing jobs that require human intelligence.
Matt McDevitt, a McKinsey partner and co-leader of QuantumBlack Japan, gave a keynote speech on how to embrace new corporate paradigms in the age of AI.
He talked about how firms are trying to cope with new business opportunities, but at the same time, concerned about privacy after confidential information was leaked and collected by outside parties when using ChatGPT, an open-source library.
Audience listens to Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance Choo Kyung-ho during a forum, titled “Survival and Growth Strategies in the AI Era," co-hosted by The Korea Times and McKinsey & Company at the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) building in central Seoul, Wednesday. Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul
A forum, titled “Survival and Growth Strategies in the AI Era," co-hosted by The Korea Times and McKinsey & Company, takes place at the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) building in central Seoul, Wednesday. Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul
The speeches were followed by two sessions, each moderated by McDevitt and Sonny Kim, an expert associate partner at McKinsey’s Korea Office.
Four panelists in the first session discussed the theme of “How AI transforms human society: Is ethical AI possible?”
The four were Uhm Yul, director general of the artificial intelligence policy bureau at the Ministry of Science and ICT; Chang Joong-ho, a professor at Seoul School of Integrated Sciences & Technologies (aSSIST); Kim Myoung-shin, principal policy officer at LG AI Research; and Yang Yoon-seok, assistant professor of the Department of Computer Science at the State University of New York, Korea.
The topics covered included technological singularity, a hypothetical future where technological growth becomes uncontrollable and overtakes human intelligence, and hallucination, a phenomenon of an AI model generating inaccurate information as if it was correct.
The second session dealt with the theme of “How Korean firms should navigate the AI era and compete with global big tech?” with another group of four panelists ― SK Telecom Vice President Park Byung-kwan; Kim Jea-in, head of Kakao Brain's corporate strategy office; Kwon Soon-il, vice president and head of biz development and strategy at Upstage; and Lee Dong-jae, chief strategy officer of Wrtn Technologies.
They voiced a common view of partnering with global players while enhancing self-competence to develop foundational models to help Korean businesses expand globally.