Park Han-sol reports on Korea's financial regulators, along with fintech and insurance. She previously wrote about the art world, from biennales and exhibitions to fairs and auctions, with a focus on Seoul and the figures shaping the scene. Before joining The Korea Times, she spent a year at ABC News' Seoul bureau, contributing to coverage of major Asia-Pacific events.
'Trend Korea 2026' predicts human expertise, not AI, will shape future
Kim Ran-do, professor emeritus of consumer science at Seoul National University, speaks during a press conference to promote his latest book, "Trend Korea 2026," in central Seoul, Wednesday. Courtesy of Miraebook
By Park Han-sol
Artificial intelligence (AI) has stepped into the center of human affairs. The seismic rise of generative AI has already begun to reshape the workplace, the classroom, the halls of politics and even the fabric of culture itself.
In its wake, an age-old question stirs anew: What role do humans still occupy?
Two years ago, Kim Ran-do, professor emeritus of consumer science at Seoul National University, offered his own answer. He coined the neologism “Homo Promptus” to describe individuals adept at strategically harnessing AI through the art of prompt-writing and engineering, while reserving for themselves the final judgment over its output.
With the release of his latest annual book, “Trend Korea 2026,” Kim has distilled his vision into a new keyword: “Human-in-the-Loop.”
The question of AI no longer lies simply in whether one can wield it or not — that threshold has long been crossed. What is unfolding now, he argues, is a “widening rift” in the quality of what humans create with AI.
“When we look closely at the work born with AI’s help, the difference is not merely in who manipulates the tool more deftly. The true divide lies in the depth of knowledge the human brings from their own field,” he said at a press conference for his book in Seoul, Wednesday.
“Those with strong expertise in their discipline find that their efficiency soars with even the lightest touch of AI. But those without such grounding often see their work falter, because they rely too heavily on what the machine delivers and fail to bring their own critical eye.”
In the end, the power to elevate productivity and refine the final product rests not in digital skills but in the most analog of virtues: the depth of one’s own knowledge. It is this very expertise that, in Kim’s eyes, keeps humans firmly “in the loop.”
Kim’s book suggests that as AI accelerates the pace of change, it also summons a longing to “return to fundamentals,” expressed in a recent tide of historical nostalgia.
In Korea today, museums and old palaces are teeming with young visitors. Members of Gen Z, who were raised on digital entertainment, find themselves increasingly drawn to film cameras, cassette tapes, CDs and vinyl records.
“We now live in a world where AI can not only replicate, but generate something that never existed at all,” the professor observed. “In such a time, where can we find what Walter Benjamin once called the ‘aura’? It is the search for that aura — for something that has endured the weight of history, something singular and irreproducible — that sends young people to museums.”
This yearning also reveals itself in nostalgia for a past never actually lived — a desire to brush against the textures of a predigital age.
Kim introduced “HORSE POWER” as the keyword for next year’s consumer trend, a term built from the initials of 10 themes.
Beginning with “Human-in-the-Loop,” these include “Oh, my feelings! The Feelconomy,” “Results on Demand: Zero-click,” “Self-directed Preparation: Ready-core” and “Efficient Organizations through AI Transformation.”
The second half comes from “Pixelated Life,” “Observant Consumers: Price Decoding,” “Widen your Health Intelligence,” “Everyone is an Island: the 1.5 Households” and “Returning to the Fundamentals.”