Is AI Humanity's New 'Fire'?

This year's World Knowledge Forum consisted of over eighty sessions held over three days at Jangchung Arena and The Shilla Seoul hotel. The theme was 'Prometheus' Moment: Designing a Coexistent Intelligence World.'

The forum likened AI to the 'fire' newly obtained by humanity, comparing it to Prometheus from Greek mythology who brought fire from the gods to humans. It focused on presenting various methodologies for wisely handling this new 'fire'.

He stated that humanity is on the threshold of a tremendous revolution, and it is difficult to predict how AI will affect human society.

Professor Dawkins warned of the possibility that AI could make humans obsolete, emphasizing that the mode of coexistence between AI and humans will emerge as an important challenge.

Sebastian Thrun, founder of GoogleX, described physical AI as a massive tsunami, emphasizing that it is an inevitable future. He pointed out that errors in AI in the physical world can be fatal, making reliability and safety crucial.

Thrun advised that for a physical AI strategy for Korea, instead of focusing on all related fields, the country should concentrate on areas where it currently has strengths, such as mobility, factory automation, and logistics.

Professor Erik Brynjolfsson of Stanford University diagnosed that even with the introduction of AI, benefits may not appear immediately; rather, productivity could initially decline. He added that innovation in business processes is essential for productivity improvement.

Professor Brynjolfsson warned that AI could lead to job losses in coding and call center professions, but advised that AI should be used not merely as a substitute for humans but as a tool to complement and augment them.

Former Danish Prime Minister Thorning-Schmidt argued that AI is different from existing technologies, so its complexity must be understood, and different regulatory methods should be applied depending on its use. She cautioned against excessive regulation that could hinder AI development.

Conversely, Roman Yampolskiy, Professor of Computer Science at the University of Louisville, warned of the possibility that AI could surpass or threaten human intelligence, strongly asserting that superintelligence should never be created.