Only 30% of Companies Use AI... "Government Must Step In to Support"

Survey of 500 Companies by KCCI and Korea Institute for Industrial Economics
78% of Companies Responded "AI is Necessary"

Among domestic companies, only about three out of ten are properly utilizing artificial intelligence (AI) in their operations. One in three companies said they find it burdensome to actively adopt AI due to a lack of related technology and infrastructure. The business community has called for government policy support to help companies effectively utilize AI.

ChatGPT logo. [Photo by Reuters Yonhap News]

The Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI), together with the Korea Institute for Industrial Economics and Trade, announced the results of a "Survey on the Utilization of AI Technology by Domestic Companies" conducted on IT and strategic planning managers from 500 domestic companies on the 28th. The survey was conducted as part of the joint initiative by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, the National Academy of Engineering of Korea, and the Korea Institute for Industrial Economics and Trade to establish "New Industrial Policies for the AI Era."

Companies agreed on the necessity of AI but showed reluctance to actively use it. 78.4% of companies responded that AI technology is necessary to improve productivity, reduce costs, and enhance performance.

However, only 30.6% of companies answered "yes" when asked if they actually use AI technology. By industry, the response rate for manufacturing was 23.8%, less than half that of the service sector at 53%. Within the service sector, finance (57.1%) and IT services (55.1%) showed high AI utilization rates. By company size, large enterprises (48.8%) had higher utilization rates than mid-sized companies (30.1%) and small businesses (28.7%). Regionally, the metropolitan area (40.4%) had about twice the utilization rate of non-metropolitan areas (17.9%).

The field where AI technology is most utilized is product development (R&D). When 153 companies that reported using AI technology were asked about their areas of application, 66.7% cited R&D as the highest. IT tasks such as security and data analysis (33.3%), quality and production management (22.2%), customer service management (13.7%), sales and marketing (13.1%), and logistics and supply chain management (9.8%) followed. The greatest benefit gained from AI technology was time reduction (45.8%), followed by cost savings (22.2%), increased production volume (11.8%), increased sales volume (8.5%), and reduced defect rates (5.2%).

There was a significant difference in attitude between companies that have used AI and those that have not. Among AI-utilizing companies, 86.3% said they plan to adopt additional technologies. 69% said they would increase their investment scale.

Half of the companies not using AI said they have no plans to adopt it. Among 347 companies not utilizing AI, 49% said they have no plans to introduce it. The proportions planning to adopt AI after three years (21.6%) and within three years (13.5%) were higher, indicating that it is not an urgent matter for them. The biggest reason for not adopting AI technology was a lack of technology and IT infrastructure (34.6%). Other reasons included cost burden (23.1%), lack of perceived necessity (21.9%), doubts about reliability (10.1%), and lack of personnel (6.1%).

Among government policy tasks to promote AI activation, "investment and R&D support in the AI field" (51.4%) was the top priority. This was followed by AI infrastructure construction (25%), AI talent development (10.2%), and improvement of laws related to security and personal information protection (7.8%).

Kang Seok-gu, head of the KCCI Research Department, emphasized, "The number of companies utilizing AI and the scope of utilization are still at an early stage," adding, "Comprehensive government support is necessary to encourage companies to actively adopt AI."

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