‘AI will drive more companies to develop business models’

Panelists for the second session of the Korea Times Forum are seen seated on the stage at the Korea Chamber of Commerce (KCCI) building in Seoul, Wednesday. From left are Sonny Kim, expert associate partner at McKinsey's Korea Office, Kakao Brain Vice President Kim Jea-in, SK Telecom Vice President Park Byung-kwan, Wrtn Technologies Chief Strategy Officer Lee Dong-jae and Upstage Vice President Kwon Soon-il. Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul

By Lee Min-hyung

• Published Oct 18, 2023 4:58 PM KST
• Updated Oct 18, 2023 5:04 PM KST

Artificial intelligence (AI) will assist more companies here and abroad to sharpen their business models and cut unnecessary fixed costs, thereby enhancing returns on investment, renowned AI experts in Korea’s business circles said during the Korea Times Forum, Wednesday.

The rise of OpenAI’s generative AI platform, ChatGPT, has brought faster-than-expected changes to work patterns of most industries. Korea, as one of the most tech-savvy nations, is also rapidly jumping on the AI bandwagon, with big tech firms as well as promising startups embracing AI as their next major growth engine.

The launch of ChatGPT kickstarted the second chapter of the AI era, and most companies are urged to brace for an AI-driven industrial paradigm shift lest they be left behind by emerging competitors that embrace AI more proactively, they said.

Panelists invited for the English daily’s forum voiced their consensus that all industry players should take advantage of AI as a tool to come up with more systemic and sophisticated business models.

“An earlier form of AI focused on developing one certain model targeting a specific user base, but the usage of the latest AI became more diverse, helping its users to deal with diverse cases with a single AI model,” Lee Dong-jae, chief strategy officer of Wrtn Technologies, said during the second session of the forum.

In the second session, four panelists shared their insights under the key theme of “How Korean firms should navigate the AI era and compete with global big tech.”

Kim Jea-in, head of Kakao Brain's corporate strategy office, also expressed confidence that AI technology, in itself, is capable of developing business models for companies from diverse industries.

“We are certain that the latest generative AI technology will develop further to a level that helps companies map out their business models,” he said. “This will get more and more sophisticated and elaborate down the road.”

Given its technological infancy, there is still much to do, but the incomplete parts will gradually be complemented in the end, according to the AI expert.

“Only those which keep contemplating how they can deliver innovation to their users through AI will be able to survive,” he said.

Big conglomerates here are also identifying AI as their next growth pillar.

SK Telecom Vice President Park Byung-kwan also advised not just big companies, but also small startups to embrace the era of generative AI.

“The latest AI trend is that more companies are fine-tuning generative AI for their own industrial sector, which is the key difference from the past when the usage of AI was very limited from the perspective of typical companies, as AI was merely used to carry out a specific task, such as facial recognition.”

SK Telecom is the nation’s largest telecom company and is a key affiliate of SK Group. The SK subsidiary has engaged in a broad range of AI projects since the technology's infant stages.

“We have recently shared our AI pyramid strategy, and the bottom layer of the pyramid consists of our nationwide telecom infrastructure, such as data center,” he said. “Taking advantage of the well-established tech infrastructure, we plan to launch more innovative AI services which are at the top of the pyramid.”

Against this backdrop, SK Telecom recently developed a personal AI assistant service, and plans to make it available to users across the globe, so it can elevate its footing as an AI-driven telecom company to global customers.

Role of government for Korea’s AI leap-forward

Invited panelists also concurred on how important the role of the government is for Korea to take the initiative in this AI-driven tech paradigm shift.

The executive from Wrtn Technologies urged the government to provide policy supports for startups to win more late-stage fund-raising.

“In most developed countries abroad, more startups often receive investments in their late phase, but this is not the case in Korea,” he said. “They attract investment in their infancy when their ideas look innovative, but less investors continue supporting them ... in a sustainable manner. It is desirable that the government helps foster a better environment for more tech startups to receive investment by offering specific policy assistance.”

Kwon from Upstage stressed the importance of the government's role in building a data-sharing environment for not just big firms, but smaller ones to challenge themselves into the promising AI sector.

“On top of that, it costs a lot for early-phase startups to bear equipment costs to expand their AI or data-driven businesses,” he said. “If the government can provide relevant devices or equipment for startups, they can cut huge costs in such areas as education or technological tests.”

The SK Telecom executive said authorities should set up specific guidelines in the emerging tech area in a preemptive manner. He said this will help minimize any possible side effects that may occur, as AI become more popular.

“For instance, the government can issue preemptive guidelines and regulatory details regarding data hacking,” he said.

He added the government is advised to keep delivering messages that it will keep offering policy-wise supports on the AI business sustainably here, so the public will become more supportive of the technology.

“If the government wants Kora’s AI sector to expand its global presence even during the next generation, it needs to make such efforts, so as for more people to be emotionally favorable and friendly to AI.”