SEOUL – How to respond to the age of artificial intelligence has become a key talking point in South Korean politics, with potential presidential frontrunners presenting plans for addressing anxiety associated with AI.

Han Dong-hoon, the former chair of the People Power Party, held a talk at a hotel in Seoul on Monday and said the changes brought on by the looming AI avalanche would be as sweeping as the industrial revolution was in the 19th century.

“The role of politics in the age of AI is to address the anxiety that people have about AI, like digital sex crimes using deepfakes and automation taking over jobs,” he said.

Han also talked about utilizing the dramatic growth driven by AI-led changes to expand welfare.

“We are the generation that will live through a time of great transformation. Experts say the new AI era will arrive in three to five years, which is a critical time for South Korea to begin investing in AI development,” Han told reporters. “If the industrial revolution was about overcoming the physical strength of men, the AI revolution would be about overcoming the limits in our intelligence.”

Han added the US and China were already engaged in a battle over AI.

“The US has imposed controls on exporting Nvidia chips to China. AI technologies may soon become valuable like strategic assets,” he said. “South Korea needs to start investing more in AI now.”

Rep. Lee Jae-myung, the Democratic Party of Korea’s chair, met with Yuval Noah Harari, the Israeli author of “Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind” on Saturday, and called for redistributing wealth accumulated by technology giants to tackle the income inequality that AI dominance was likely to bring.

“The other day, I suggested that the government acquire stakes in AI companies and get involved in the business, and I was attacked as a communist,” the Democratic Party chair said.

Lee said the prospect of a few companies “dominating the industry and monopolizing wealth, and in turn exacerbating inequality” was a “very real concern.”

“In the end, a worse world will be created. How we can overcome this AI-driven inequality and polarization is going to be a main challenge,” he said.

He proposed investing in tech companies using state funds, and redistributing the profits as a possible solution.

Lee Kyoung-jun, a professor of big data analytics at Kyung Hee University in Seoul, told The Korea Herald that leaders needed to be coming up with policy solutions to support AI development rather than limiting themselves to election rhetoric.

“Our politics should treat AI as more than just a cool buzzword. The interest in AI from our political leaders is certainly a good thing. But that interest has to turn into substantive policies,” he said.

Asia News Network/The Korea Herald