S. Korea struggles to catch up with AI leaders

By Kang Yoon-seung SEOUL, March 15 (Yonhap) -- When Lee Se-dol, a synonym of the word 'genius' in the country, suffered a series of defeats from an artificial intelligence (AI) program playing the board game Go, the technology became more reality than fiction to South Koreans. As a western program armed with state-of-the-art technology took just a few days to drill into the 19-by-19-line grid where Asians have stood invincible for thousands of years, local policymakers are now speeding up efforts to catch up with overseas rivals, while the public discusses the possible impacts of AI. Global market watchers already have been casting rosy outlooks over the segment. Industry tracker International Data Corp. said the world's AI industry is expected to reach US$165 billion in 2017, up sharply from $127 billion posted this year. Google Inc., which boasted of its AI technology through AlphaGo defeating Lee, plans to apply its achievements to areas ranging from health diagnoses to self-driving automobiles. Despite the emerging importance of AI, industry watchers say South Korea is only in its first steps to catch up with rivals. South Korea is estimated to be 1.4 years behind the United States in terms of technology development, a local researcher said. Japan and European countries are presumed to be 0.9 years behind. Industry watchers said South Korea lacks experience in developing core technologies related to AI, adding that it will take some time for the country to narrow gaps with other countries in its industrial capabilities. Thus, some say that government-level support is vital. "Since the second half of 2015, the ministry has been making efforts to cope with the rising awareness of knowledge-based information," said an official from the Ministry of Science, ICT, and Future Planning. "We plan to roll out further policies to create an ecosystem of research and development aiming at applying AI to the Internet of Things and heavy industries," the official added. The ministry plans to roll out a comprehensive policy package to foster domestic AI businesses. Amid the influx of discussions of the economic impact of AI, scholars also insist that the public should now begin the discussion on how society should embrace the new technology. "We need to make predictions on the social and cultural consequences of the AI and organize our moral values, given that the technology will be implemented in our daily lives in 10 years," said Choi Hang-sub, a sociology professor at Kookmin University. Choi added the world would face a disaster if AI technologies are focused only on productivity and efficiency. Lee Jung-won, a professor of philosophy at the University of Seoul, echoed the view, adding that there needs to be discussion on establishing ethical principles for robots powered by AI. Other industry watchers said it will still take some time for AI to exert significant influence on our lives. "Should a self-learning AI like AlphaGo continue to develop, things beyond our imagination can happen in 20 to 30 years," said Jeong Jae-seung, a professor of brain engineering at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology. "But there still lie hurdles for AI to develop enough to make decisions or conduct activities that call for creativity like art," Jeong added. Amid rising concerns, others say that AI will bring more good than harm. "People tend to fear the unknown, be afraid of unfamiliar things. Often times the uneasiness and anxiety towards certain technologies stem from this. I do not see a gloomy future," Dennis Hong, a leading U.S. robotics professor from the University of California, Los Angeles, told Yonhap News Agency. "Many tend to see the victory of AlphaGo over Lee Se-dol as a shame for the human race. I think this is over-exaggerated and I see it differently. It is also humans who developed the AI system, thus either way it is a win for humanity. The AI system is developed by humans for humans, and it was simply tested with the help of a human," he added. Hong said it would be the role of scientists and engineers to make sure the development of AI applications is to benefit society and mankind, to be used only for the greater good. "This game between man and machine also gave us a good opportunity to ponder about what it is to be human," Hong added. colin@yna.co.kr (END)