"Strengthen AI Education for Baby Boomers to Address the Declining Working Population Cliff"

Professor Kangho Lee, KAIST Graduate School of Culture Technology
'The Era of Population Crisis - 10 Major Challenges...' Report

Experts have suggested that measures such as activating artificial intelligence (AI) technology or implementing a 20-hour workweek could be solutions to address productivity issues arising from a "low birthrate and aging society."

On the 3rd, Kangho Lee, a professor at the KAIST MoonSul Graduate School of Future Strategy, stated in the report titled "Era of Population Crisis - Top 10 Challenges and Future Response Strategies for 2024" that to cope with the decline in the working-age population due to sustained low birthrates and accelerated aging, recycling the baby boom generation, which accounts for 13.6% of the total population, in main jobs could be a viable solution.

According to Statistics Korea, the working-age population (ages 15-64) is expected to drop from 71.1% last year, the highest level among OECD countries, to the lowest level of 54.3% by 2072 due to low birthrates and aging. During the same period, the proportion of the elderly population aged 65 and over is projected to surge from 17.4% to 47.7%, while the youth population proportion is expected to plummet from 11.5% to 6.6%, indicating drastic changes in the population structure.

Professor Lee emphasized, "To overcome the low birthrate issue, related national budgets should be increased to more than double the current benefits per child, and child allowances, parental pay, and the scope and scale of childcare support must be significantly expanded."

He argued that bold policies are needed to prevent the collapse of the education system caused by ultra-low birthrates, such as actively reducing university enrollment quotas and promoting admission demand by attracting foreign students. To address the shortage of military conscripts, he proposed utilizing advanced technologies like AI, expanding female military personnel, and negotiating troop reductions between North and South Korea.

He also proposed measures such as strengthening AI education for the baby boom generation, which is becoming part of the elderly population, activating a 20-hour workweek system, and providing incentives like subsidies or tax credits to companies employing baby boomers. He explained, "Actively utilizing the baby boom generation can enable a soft landing from the crisis caused by the decline in the working-age population and reduce the increase in social expenditures due to their retirement."

Professor Lee warned, "Our society is facing two unprecedented challenges simultaneously: a population crisis and the AI revolution," adding, "Despite AI's potential, the rate of decline in the working-age population may outpace the job growth driven by the AI revolution."

He further stated, "The core new employment population (ages 25-29) is decreasing by more than 120,000 annually," and emphasized, "To respond to this workforce decline, AI education targeting young people and workers with high AI technology acceptance and retired baby boomers should be provided to reduce the technology gap and solve labor shortages."

The proportion of the elderly population is projected to reach 30% in 2036, 40% in 2050, and 47.7% in 2072. While the total population decreases, the elderly population is expected to exceed 10 million in 2025 and rapidly increase to 18.91 million by 2050, causing the old-age dependency ratio to rise from 22.4 last year to 29.3 in 2025, 77.3 in 2050, and 104.2 in 2072.

Professor Lee argued, "To ensure income security for the elderly, specific measures such as reforming the public pension system, diversifying assets overly concentrated in real estate, and expanding private sector jobs by raising the retirement age from the current 60 to 65 should be pursued."

He also stressed that, given the expected acceleration of the government's fiscal crisis due to aging, it is necessary to eliminate tax blind spots, adjust tax revenues to expand income, and explore new tax items. Additionally, he added that various social security fund reforms currently under discussion within the system, such as adjusting the income replacement rate and the insurance premium rate (9%), should be promptly implemented.

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