If a replacement who rivals Ha Jung-woo, with a feel for the artificial intelligence (AI) industry and technical knowledge, is appointed right away to steady the center, there would be no major problem, but if the senior secretary for AI future planning is left vacant, the national AI policy will not be carried out properly. In the end, it is inevitable to question the sincerity of making AI a core state agenda. (Lee Kyung-jun, Kyunghee University professor of business administration)
The senior secretary for AI future planning is different from positions like the senior secretary for political affairs, civil affairs, or economic affairs, where there are relatively many professionals who can substitute. It is not easy to find an AI expert with both expertise and an industry feel. With Vice Prime Minister Bae Kyung-hoon in place, it will be somewhat okay, but it would be hard to say there will be no blow to the national AI strategy. (AI expert A)
Former Blue House senior secretary for AI future planning Ha Jung-woo was a close aide whom President Lee Jae-myung trusted so much that he often called him "HaGPT" ("Ha Jung-woo + ChatGPT"). He, together with Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Science and ICT Bae Kyung-hoon, was both the twin engine and the symbol of the national AI policy. However, after just 10 months, Ha, one of the key leaders of AI policy, declared a run for office and broke ranks from the AI policy lineup.
Experts say it will not be easy to find someone who can both replace the former senior secretary Ha and carry forward policy continuity with AI expertise. In the industry, there is talk that if the vacancy for the senior secretary for AI future planning is prolonged, disruptions to AI policy will be inevitable. Professor Lee Kyung-jun voiced concern that in the end, the table could be set by experts, but the announced AI policy could become an unguarded domain for political use.
The industry is already filled with concern over the former senior secretary Ha's departure. To reach the government of Lee Jae-myung's goal of becoming one of the top three AI powers, harmony with Vice Prime Minister Bae is also important, but it is hard to find a suitable person. President Lee also seemed aware of this, and on the 9th, he tried to dissuade the former senior secretary Ha, who was being floated for a by-election draft, saying, There is a lot to do. You shouldn't go just because an offer comes in. A government official B said, Currently, the national AI project is led by Vice Prime Minister Bae, with former senior secretary Ha advising, adding, We expected an entry into politics, but it was far too soon.
Since the launch of the Lee Jae-myung administration, the biggest achievement in the AI institutional sector so far has been securing 260,000 units of Nvidia graphics processing units (GPUs), which are key components for AI development, and expanding the budget, infrastructure, and organization. But there is still a long way to go. Korea's AI technological capability remains at the level of papers. According to Stanford University's AI Index in the United States, Korea ranked third after the United States and China in the number of noteworthy AI models, but it is hard to see this as a tangible outcome.
Most Korean citizens use foreign AI services. According to Internet Trend, as of the 26th of this month, the AI platform most used by citizens over the past month was ChatGPT (40.49%). It was followed by Gemini (32.68%), Perplexity (17.07%), and Claude (7.32%). President Lee Jae-myung, when he was a presidential candidate in Apr. last year, said, We will push the "AI for all" project so that everyone can use AI at an advanced-country level for free, mentioning a Korea-style ChatGPT. But it is still hard to find a proper homegrown AI model.
Some say the national team AI model contest, which dreamed of a "Korea-style ChatGPT," was unrealistic from the start. In the industry, there is also a reaction that, in the end, the national team AI project was used to pad election resumes. A senior executive in the business community said, ChatGPT and Gemini are fighting day by day to survive, and no one thinks an AI model on par with them will come out right away, adding, We are interested in concrete parts for national AI advancement, like computing power or data centers, rather than unrealistic goals.
An executive at a corporations participating in the national team AI model project said, Providing GPUs can be a big help not only to large companies but also to academia and startups, but added, It is true that it takes more time because the government is focusing on the originality of AI models. The executive also said, We are participating because we think winning first or second place in the national team AI model contest will have high promotional value, but even if we are selected as the final model, we do not know what and how the government will do with it. Another industry official said, The government, fixated on AI models, is neglecting to establish measures for power supply, infrastructure, and data centers.