[The Editors' Verdict] Prerequisites for AI Diffusion and Convergence

Professor Shin Minsu, Department of Business Administration, Hanyang University

Roundtable Discussion on Data Economy Planning. Professor Shin Minsu. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

Since the Fourth Industrial Revolution was advocated at the 2016 World Economic Forum (WEF), countries around the world have been striving to break away from the low-growth trend by dramatically improving stagnant productivity through the use of IT technology. Various measures are being devised, among which strengthening competitiveness and discovering future industries using artificial intelligence (AI) stand out in particular. Countries worldwide recognize that the spread of AI technology and its convergence will determine national competitiveness in the future. South Korea has also set AI as a national agenda, announced its national AI strategy in 2019, and last year unveiled the Korean New Deal comprehensive plan to promote the spread and convergence of AI across all industries.

However, despite the strategic expansion of support for AI-based innovation, the pace of AI technology diffusion and convergence in daily life and across industries remains slower than expected. In fact, the current market shows a mix of optimistic forecasts and concerns regarding the use of AI technology. Global consulting firm McKinsey & Company projected that by 2030, about 70% of companies will utilize one or more AI technologies. In particular, a significant number of large corporations are expected to fully adopt AI systems. On the other hand, Element AI evaluated that 90% of AI projects attempted so far remain at the proof-of-concept stage, indicating a low actual adoption rate. While most companies agree that the areas of AI technology adoption will increase, there are differing opinions on the speed and the promising industrial and business sectors where AI technology will be applied. This phenomenon arises because there is no clear strategic direction on how to utilize AI in corporate business. It also reflects the absence of companies generating clear profits through AI utilization, with the majority of AI-using companies remaining at the pilot (trial operation) level.

To overcome this situation and enable rapid convergence of AI technology for use across industries, urgent policy responses are needed to create a suitable environment and promote commercialization using technology. In particular, a structure that organically connects government policy, companies, and individuals must be established. AI policy needs to focus more on the demand side rather than just supplying AI technology by industry. Policies centered on equipment supply for AI utilization provide the foundation for AI use, but for continuous innovation through AI, there must be consideration of policies focused on how to innovate through convergence in work processes. Attention should also be paid to the fact that AI utilization and convergence processes vary depending on the scale and innovation level of the target industry. For example, industries such as finance, manufacturing, distribution, telecommunications, and companies ranging from large enterprises to small and medium-sized enterprises differ greatly in terms of data generation, collection, and distribution systems. Therefore, it is necessary to classify demand targets, derive key issues according to applicable AI levels, and then subdivide and establish related policies based on this.

The government is currently exploring various methods to promote AI utilization. However, without objective evaluation, the efficiency of policy support may rather decline, so a pluralistic evaluation system must be established. Ethical responsibility for AI is also being discussed, and rather than conceptual debates, effective measures need to be established regarding the application targets, timing, and implementation methods from the perspectives of transparency and explainability. By resolving the preconditions to promote AI diffusion and convergence, we hope that South Korea’s Digital New Deal will achieve success.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.