On April 28, 2026, Rep. Kim Tae-young (left) of the ruling Democratic Party shakes hands with Choi Tae-won, chairman of the SK Group and also the president of the Korean Chamber of Commerce and Industry, at the National Assembly in Seoul, South Korea. The meeting took place during a seminar on South Korea’s growth strategy amid the intensifying competition in artificial intelligence technology between the United States and China, hosted by a coalition of South Korean and Chinese parliamentarians. Photo provided by Yong Hap/EPA
May 29th (Asia Today) — Choi Tae-won, chairman of SK Group, said that generalist human resources will become more important in the era of artificial intelligence, as workers need to develop unique human abilities.
Choi, who is also chairman of the Korean Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said South Korea should accelerate the expansion of AI infrastructure based on speed, scale, and safety.
SK Group announced on Friday that Choi appeared on KBS1’s “Documentary Insights – Talent War 2: Choi Tae-won’s Answers” on Thursday to discuss what humans should learn and what abilities humans should develop as AI advances faster than humans.
“I wanted to share the perspective I gained from speaking directly with many people in the AI industry and collaborating on business,” Chey said.
Mr. Chey said that the world is currently moving from an era of “inferential AI,” in which AI answers human questions, to an era of “agent-based AI,” in which AI makes decisions and acts on its own.
“During this period, the gap in capabilities between those who actively use AI and those who do not may be even greater than it is now,” Chey said. “How quickly and effectively we use AI could deepen similar polarization among individuals, businesses, and countries.”
However, in the long term, the rise of artificial general intelligence could narrow the gap between people’s knowledge and productivity, Chey said.
He said that if two people’s ability levels were now 10 and 100, the difference would be 10 times greater. But in the era of AGI, if everyone received an AI-powered baseline ability of 1,000, their levels could become 1,010 and 1,100, significantly reducing relative disparity.
“In the future, it will be less about what kind of job a person does and more about how that person can use and connect humans and AI,” Chey said.
He stated that generalists who can design new systems and societies where humans and AI coexist across different fields will be more important than specialists who deeply understand only one field.
Chey also said that AI can perform most of the work tasks, making it possible for people to take on multiple roles and jobs at the same time. He said the traditional “9-to-6” work schedule and stereotypes about occupations could gradually change.
Mr. Chey proposed four core “muscles” that individuals should acquire in the age of AI: the thinking muscle that asks fundamental questions, the adaptive muscle that responds to rapid change, the empathetic muscle that reflects the unique human compassion, and the “body skills” that create value through physical activities such as music, art, and sports.
“The ability to quickly acquire knowledge and perform well on tests will be largely replaced by AI,” Chey says. “It’s important to build areas that only humans can do.”
Choi also presented a national strategy, stating that South Korea needs the “3S” (speed, scale, and security) in order to become a competitive “AI nation.”
He said South Korea should accelerate technology development, expand large-scale AI infrastructure and investment, and build an institutional foundation that allows citizens to use AI safely.
“AI talent doesn’t just mean engineering talent,” says Chey. “We must urgently change our education and social systems so that future generations can naturally use and coexist with AI.”
— Asia Today reported. Translation by UPI
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Korea original report: https://www.asiatoday.co.kr/kn/view.php?key=20260529010008715
