[Gwanga in] KFTC Members Attending AI Classes... BOK Accelerates 'Digital Innovation'

President also emphasizes in New Year's address
Plans to recruit experienced AI professionals within the year

The Bank of Korea is accelerating its use of artificial intelligence (AI) for digital innovation. Internal interest has grown to the extent that even the members of the Monetary Policy Committee, who decide the base interest rate, have attended lectures on how to utilize AI. In terms of personnel, there are plans to recruit experienced AI-related professionals within the year.

According to the Bank of Korea on the 7th, its employees attended a practical AI lecture titled "AI Techniques Immediately Applicable to Work" that morning. This lecture was an external expert seminar prepared by the Monetary Policy Committee Office, with Kim Deok-jin, author of the book 'AI 2024' and adjunct professor at Sejong Cyber University and Kyung Hee University as well as director of the IT Communication Research Institute, invited as the instructor.

The approximately two-hour training was attended by several Monetary Policy Committee members along with employees who wished to participate. The lecture focused on how to use open AI services such as ChatGPT. A Bank of Korea official explained, "As interest in how to utilize AI services including ChatGPT has recently increased, this session was organized for members to study and apply them in practical work."

The Bank of Korea's interest in AI is also reflected in recent research. The Research Department, responsible for economic outlooks, released a report titled ‘AI and Labor Market Changes’ in November last year, analyzing that about 3.41 million jobs in South Korea are highly likely to be replaced by AI, which attracted external attention.

Additionally, on the 6th, the Digital Innovation Office developed and unveiled an AI-based big data inflation forecasting model with high predictive power. As the central bank responsible for monetary policy, a key pillar of macroeconomics, the Bank of Korea is not only analyzing the impact of AI on the economy but also actively promoting digital advancement by adopting its own technology in key functions such as variable forecasting and economic outlooks.

The Bank of Korea’s digital innovation strategy was outlined with the announcement of the mid-to-long-term development plan 'BOK 2030' in 2020. At that time, the Bank set a goal to "conduct in-depth research on applying new research techniques such as AI, big data, and blockchain to respond to digital innovation." Since then, the Bank has been promoting digital innovation projects utilizing AI and big data.

The introduction of new technologies such as AI into internal management and policy operations is expected to be further emphasized this year. Governor Lee Chang-yong expressed his commitment in last month’s New Year’s address, stating that "efforts will continue to streamline work processes using AI technology and improve productivity" in the Bank’s operations this year.

These efforts are also evident in the personnel sector. The Digital Innovation Office, which started with 16 members at the end of 2020, has nearly doubled to 29 members in three years. Moreover, the Bank hired 83 new general planning staff this year, including a record 19 hires in the computer engineering field. Although none of the new employees appointed on the 2nd were assigned to departments considering AI expertise, it appears that related personnel will be recruited externally. A Bank of Korea official explained, "There are not many AI-related undergraduate programs yet, so it has been difficult to hire new employees specialized in AI. We plan to recruit experienced professionals who have built expertise in the AI industry outside the Bank within this year."

A representative from the Bank of Korea’s Digital Innovation Office said, "As emphasized by Governor Lee, efforts to improve work efficiency and automation using AI and other new technologies, as well as to shorten work processes, will be strengthened this year," adding, "The key will be how well these efforts can be integrated into the Bank."

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