Combined efforts needed to secure human power, data
Global tech giants are rushing to take the lead in artificial intelligence (AI), prompted by the sweeping frenzy of ChatGPT. The U.S.' OpenAI first unveiled the Chat Generative Pre-trained Transformer (ChatGPT) in December last year. Such state-of-the―art technology generated a stir as the number of its monthly users surpassed 100 million in two months, nudging desperate Microsoft and Google to come up with their own new AI services.
OpenAI's brilliant performance has been unprecedented even for major Internet firms such as Facebook and Instagram who need more than several years to recruit such a number of users. Elated by the initial success, OpenAI already presented a service requiring a $20 monthly subscription fee. The firm is poised to submit the next version of GPT4 soon.
Domestic companies such as Naver and Kakao are also rolling up their sleeves to present their own ChatGTP devices. The world has suddenly become entangled in an AI war. It appears the rise of ChatGPT will trigger a far-flung impact upon people's daily lives, as experienced at the birth of the Internet in 2000 and mobile phones in 2010.
The rapid evolution of AI will have a positive effect of greatly increasing the convenience for people on the one hand. Yet, on the other hand, it will result in various adverse impacts and pose highly sensitive ethical issues.
ChatGPT is different from hitherto search engines in that it provides users with tailored services and contents based on deep learning of enormous data sets. For instance, it can compile an academic paper and expert-level essays that can pass the U.S. bar exams and even produce artistic and musical works.
The rapid development of AI prowess is feared to lead to negative consequences unless proper ethical standards are mapped out. In fact, some students at a domestic international school took flak for making reports based on the first iteration of ChatGPT.
It is time for the government, businesses and universities to make combined efforts to nurture new technologies to enable the country to survive the intensifying global AI competition. They also need to find ways to promote trust in AI. The AI service market is forecast to display explosively growth to reach 2,000 trillion won ($1.57 trillion) in the near future. Korea's AI technology level has lagged far behind major advanced nations such as the United States, in particular. More efforts should be made to secure talented human resources and sharpen technological prowess.
On Dec. 27, the National Data Policy Committee submitted a package of measures designed to expand the uses of AI in daily life and enhance AI-related industries. The committee presented 10 projects with a goal of generating substantial outcomes in relevant industries. Yet, such a move seems to have largely failed to catch up with the global trend toward the rapid development of AI, as seen with ChatGPT.
For starters, the Yoon Suk Yeol administration had pushed for a plan to increase the quota of semiconductor-related students in universities in Seoul and its metropolitan area to foster human resources in the high-tech sector. But the plan has fallen flat due to opposition from the National Assembly, citing the need for balanced regional development.
An increasing number of universities have begun to set up AI-related departments. But they face growing difficulties resulting from a lack of capable professors, facilities and equipment. Korea has boasted that it has been leading the process of informatization despite its belated industrialization. Now, numerous signs show that the nation will lag behind in the AI revolution, edged out by a wide range of outdated regulations and practices.
Now is the time for all relevant parties to discuss the issue more extensively at the pan-national level. Beyond the question of how to speed up the growth of the AI industry, possible discussions should also focus on AI-related ethical issues, pertinent to the potential production of fake news, plagiarism and the violation of intellectual property rights.
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