“AI Development Unstoppable… Intensifying Human Competition”

Sungkyunkwan University's 8-week intensive AI course, offered during the summer vacation, confirmed students' explosive demand for practical training.

Despite the enrollment capacity being more than doubled from 350 last year to 750 this year, applications closed in just 10 minutes, showing intense interest. The class focused on practical exercises for building AI agents.

The pace of AI technology change is so rapid that existing books often become outdated within months.

To respond to these changes and use them as educational material, AI trends by industry are compiled and published annually. Understanding the flow of AI is essential in all fields, regardless of whether they are arts or sciences.

While some figures like Anthropic's Dario Amodei and OpenAI's Sam Altman advocate for slowing down AI, this overlooks the fundamental nature of technological progress.

In contrast, figures like Nvidia's Jensen Huang, Mark Zuckerberg, and former President Donald Trump warn that delaying AI competition could lead to national crisis. Humanity cannot abandon technology for biological survival and environmental adaptation, which is also linked to the desire for procreation.

Over the past 70,000 years, humanity has built civilization by choosing the most advantageous tools for survival.

Despite concerns about addiction when smartphones were introduced, their overwhelming efficiency for survival led to their global spread. With the advent of new technologies like firearms and ironware, risks were always raised, but humanity never stopped progressing.

In a situation where geopolitical competition overrides economic logic, AI will establish itself as an essential tool for human survival.

In the U.S. economy, CapEx investment is a key driver of GDP growth.

Under an emphasis on economic performance, such as the Trump administration's stance, CapEx investment, including AI, is bound to continue. Companies advocating for an AI slowdown are generally in poor financial health.

Wealthy big tech companies like Meta, Microsoft, and Google are using AI as an opportunity to outperform competitors, and this economic logic is a crucial factor determining the pace of AI development.

The market is expected to reorganize around companies with ample capital. Companies without supported performance are likely to be weeded out, similar to the dot-com bubble, with reorganization centering on companies that monopolize investment capital and possess innovation drive.

The market will reorganize around companies that monopolize investment capital and have sufficient energy to lead innovation, and the gap between companies will widen due to financial strength rather than the pace of AI technology development itself, he analyzed.

Like the history of nuclear weapon development, technological progress does not stop despite human concerns. Just as nuclear weapons did not destroy humanity, AI will also undergo an uncontrolled spread, and no cases of AI having an independent will like humans have been reported yet.

He predicted that, like the history of nuclear weapons development, technological progress has not stopped despite human concerns, and just as nuclear weapons did not destroy humanity, AI will also go through an uncontrolled spread and establish itself in human society.

Professor Choi Jae-boong pointed out that fears of AI threatening humans or taking away jobs are misconceptions.

He defined the competition in the age of AI as essentially a struggle between those who efficiently use AI as a tool and those who are replaced by AI. He explained this as part of humanity's evolution to do more with less energy.

Professor Choi Jae-boong emphasized that what is necessary for human survival has been chosen unconsciously for 70,000 years.

He predicted that, like the Homeplus and Coupang cases, social discourse and actual consumption behavior can differ, and similar to the introduction of smartphones, AI will also become established in society by replacing arduous human tasks and providing convenience.

Professor Choi Jae-boong explained that digital civilization has liberated humans from excessive labor in the past.

He predicted that the digital revolution has progressed in a positive direction, including the improvement of human rights for individuals and vulnerable groups, and AI will also be controlled to increase the happiness of all humanity.

He mentioned that this development has worked to liberate humans from labor, becoming the historical backdrop that made discussions of a four-day work week possible, moving beyond the five-day week.

Professor Choi Jae-boong emphasized that during the past 20 years of the digital revolution, the human rights of individuals, vulnerable groups, and women have continuously improved.

He predicted that AI will also develop in a way that enhances human happiness, and AI systems will necessarily be designed with human control (Human-in-the-loop) embedded within their structure.

Professor Choi Jae-boong asserted that there will be no slowing down or stopping of AI itself, and a weeding-out process among companies will unfold.

He emphasized that humans will not be replaced by AI, but by people who effectively utilize AI. Professor Choi presented 'The Revolution Caused by the Five Sources of Boundaries' as the core of his book 'AI Trends 2027,' explaining survival strategies in the AI era.