The government's "AI for All" program will begin beta testing in September, followed by a broader launch later this year. On Friday, Seoul named three technology consortia...

South Korea already has a large market for generative AI. A government survey earlier this year found that about one-quarter of South Koreans pay for AI services. By comparison, a PNC Bank survey found that about 2% of Americans pay for such services. Seoul estimates that more than 20 million people in South Korea use free generative AI tools.

The rollout is backed by a broader increase in AI spending. President Lee Jae Myung’s administration has set aside about 10 trillion won, or $7.2 billion, for AI-related spending in 2026. That is three times the amount allocated the previous year.

  • AF_R [he/him]@hexbear.netEnglish
    16·
    1 day ago

    Here’s the one actually useful paragraph from the article:

    The services are expected to connect to government systems rather than function solely as standalone chatbots. Residents will be able to use them to book doctor appointments, search for apartments, and get tax guidance. Small businesses will be able to calculate taxes and check whether they qualify for government support. Parents will receive recommendations for educational content.

    Hahahahahah this is going to be excellent popcorn time

  • Bloobish [comrade/them]@hexbear.netEnglish
    58·
    1 day ago

    So translation is that AI companies are begging governments to bankroll them since barely any of the population wants to pay actual money to make shitty meme art, and currently the pay to profit ratio for tokens is already so unbalanced that even if everyone was paying for it the system would still be unprofitable.

    Truly we are not in a bubble folks and about to repeat 2008 on steroids…

  • SacredExcrement [any, comrade/them]@hexbear.netEnglish
    35·
    1 day ago

    Many years ago, when I was still in middle school, I took an intro to programming course. It wasn’t anything elaborate, just ‘learn how to use visual basic’. I had no prior experience with coding at all, but I sat next to someone that played around with basic scripting a lot, so they had a firm grasp on how it worked and were able to plow through the coursework we had. So I just cheated by copying what they were doing (until they got wise); they didn’t turn me in, we were friends, but it did make me self conscious enough to not do it again, which forced me to learn the material properly. It also forced me to learn the critical thinking skills I had been trying to avoid developing. And I enjoyed it, to the point where I still enjoy scripting and playing around with electronics to this day.

    Just something I think of now and then when I see stories about AI, and of people substituting it into places where it truly does not belong.

  • SootySootySoot [any]@hexbear.netEnglish
    24·
    1 day ago

    No token limits

    If I was in South Korea, I’d be setting up my service to provide AI access to foreign commerce at unbeatable rates about now.

  • InevitableSwing [none/use name]@hexbear.netEnglish
    30·
    2 days ago

    All over the world - I wonder how bad AI’s influence will be on people’s ability to think and to reason. It’s bad enough for adults but huge percentages of teens and even younger kids using it can only be toxic.

    • insurgentrat [she/her, it/its]@hexbear.netEnglish
      26·
      1 day ago

      the amount of knowledge and culture that has been buried or subtly corrupted by the tide of slop concerns me. In academia alone I think it will take more than half a century to unpick. Like the replication crisis but in all fields at once.

      • InevitableSwing [none/use name]@hexbear.netEnglish
        17·
        1 day ago

        buried or subtly corrupted by the tide of slop

        It makes me think of the flooding - and in particular the recent flooding in Nepal and China. Except in the case of flooding nobody except unhinged people root for the water.