A recent study suggests that the nationwide use of artificial intelligence (AI), marked by the most advanced tech applications and cost-saving automated solutions, could generate annual profits in the hundreds of trillion won in three years.

Today‘s generative AI is emerging as a beacon of economic hope in a country struggling from record-low birth rates and population aging. A joint study conducted by South Korea’s Ministry of Science and ICT and the multinational consulting firm Bain & Company predicts that generative AI programs will have a staggering economic impact worth 310 trillion won ($229.3 billion) annually in the next three years. The paper also said AI-powered technologies could boost corporate sales and revenues, resulting in a jump of 1.8 percentage points in the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) over the next three years.

The race for AI leadership is now getting fiercer, as big tech firms and many governments rush to take the lead. The emergence of generative AI, an innovation that is considered on par with past technological innovations such as steam engines and the Internet, has sparked a frenzy of investment and innovation globally. According to the data from Bloomberg Intelligence, the generative AI market is poised to explode, growing to $1.3 trillion over the next ten years from a market size of just $40 billion in 2022 thanks to the influx of consumer generative AI programs.

As part of its efforts to keep up with the AI race, Korea unveiled its highest-ranking group of state agencies and private companies on Thursday that will discuss AI tech advances and future economic impacts.

But Korea has a long way to go to catch up with frontrunners in the race given the vast technological gap between the frontrunners and Korean companies.

Companies, as an incubator of global tech leaders, should invest more time, effort, and money in driving innovation and human capital. With companies more capable of investing in research and development, the government must take decisive action to support them via policy and regulatory reforms.

By Editorial Team

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