Korea cannot afford to slow down AI development: science minister
Science Minster Bae Kyung-hoon speaks at an event for a government-backed project to develop artificial intelligence models accessible to everyone in Seoul, Sept. 4. Courtesy of Ministry of Science and ICT
Korea "cannot afford" to slow down its artificial intelligence (AI) progress, the country's science minister said Wednesday, but noted the emphasis should be put on responsible development rather than the speed of advancement itself.
"It is an entirely different matter for a country already ahead to adjust its pace, than for a nation that is catching up while simultaneously having to create new markets to slow down," Science Minister Bae Kyung-hoon wrote in a social media post.
"We cannot afford to slow down the pace of AI development," he stressed.
The minister said the gap between countries that have secured AI frontier models approaching the level of human intelligence and those who have not could eventually extend beyond merely a technological gap and into other areas, such as the country's industrial competitiveness, national security and even its future growth.
But Bae expressed a cautionary approach to unconditional acceleration, stressing efforts to ensure safety and trust should also come in tandem with the pace of technological development.
The science minister's comments come amid a global debate over whether the industry should decelerate the speed of AI development.
Executives from big AI companies in the United States, including those from OpenAI and Anthropic, have called for the industry to slow down the pace of advancement to ensure public safety.
In contrast, U.S. President Donald Trump has expressed a different opinion, calling concerns about AI safety "a hoax" in a phone call with Nvidia's chief, Jensen Huang, during an industry summit this week.