KCCI Financial Industry Committee Meeting
'ChatGPT and the Present and Future of AI'
On the 27th, the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) held a Financial Industry Committee meeting at the Westin Chosun Hotel in Jung-gu, Seoul, inviting Professor Kim Seon-ju, head of the Department of Artificial Intelligence at Yonsei University’s Computer Science Department. The meeting featured in-depth discussions on the future of artificial intelligence (AI) technology, led recently by ChatGPT, and its integration with the financial industry.
About 30 participants attended the meeting, including Choi Hyun-man, Chairman of the KCCI Financial Industry Committee; Woo Tae-hee, Executive Vice President of KCCI; Lee Kang-haeng, Vice Chairman of Korea Investment Holdings; Kim Shin, CEO of SK Securities; Lee Sung-jae, CEO of Hyundai Marine & Fire Insurance; and Yoon Yeol-hyun, Advisor at Kyobo Life Insurance.
Choi Hyun-man, Chairman of KCCI Financial Industry Committee and Chairman of Mirae Asset Securities: "Capital Must Be Attached to AI and Big Data... Impact Will Be Significant"
In his opening remarks, Chairman Choi emphasized, “The aftermath of the Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) bankruptcy and Credit Suisse (CS) crisis continues,” adding, “It is important for finance to play a pioneering role in future industries by staying ahead of technology and regulatory trends.”
He also shared an example of a conversation with ChatGPT. Chairman Choi said, “When I asked ChatGPT about ways to maintain competitiveness in financial companies in the future, it responded that ‘new technologies should be utilized to streamline decision-making, collect and process market information, and improve customer experience.’”
He further predicted, “When experimental tools like big data, AI, and blockchain are combined with capital, they could have a tremendous impact that completely breaks away from existing processes.”
"If a Modality-Integrated AI Model Is Realized, the Era of Artificial General Intelligence Will Open"
Professor Kim Seon-ju, who gave the lecture, forecasted that AI technology, which has gained attention due to the ChatGPT craze, will develop in a direction where various modalities such as images, videos, and voice will be integrated.
Professor Kim stated, “Currently, active research is underway in AI fields such as language-based video editing and generation, and language descriptions of videos,” adding, “If technologies that integrate voice, music, video, and language into a single AI model are realized, it will surpass the current chat-based GPT and transition into the era of Artificial General Intelligence (AGI).” AGI refers to ‘human-like AI’ that goes beyond limited algorithmic processing by integrating and coordinating multiple functions to analyze, create, and execute autonomously.
Korea’s AI Competitiveness Ranks 7th, Dropping Two Places... Weaknesses in AI Talent (28th) and Operational Environment (32nd)
However, Korea’s AI competitiveness currently ranks 7th, trailing behind the United States, China, and others. According to the global AI index survey by Totus Intelligence, a UK data analytics media, the top AI competitiveness countries are the United States, followed by China, the United Kingdom, Canada, Israel, Singapore, and Korea. Korea’s ranking dropped two places from last year (5th to 7th). This evaluation is based on AI talent, infrastructure, research capability, and national strategy, indicating a widening gap with leading countries.
Professor Kim pointed out, “Amid fierce global competition to dominate AI technology, as seen with ChatGPT, the United States is leading and the gap is expected to widen, but Korea is facing difficulties in narrowing this gap.”
Korea’s weak areas are AI talent (28th) and operational environment (32nd). The operational environment measures conditions such as data-related regulations and social trust in AI. As a countermeasure to catch up with leading AI countries, Professor Kim emphasized, “It is urgent to focus AI research and talent development through representative research institutes like OpenAI and the Allen Institute for Brain Science in the U.S., or the Vector Institute in Canada.”
A blueprint for how AI technology will be integrated into the financial industry was also presented. Professor Kim predicted, “In the financial industry, AI has high potential for use in personalized services and customer response,” adding, “Especially in quantitative (quant) tasks, financial innovation is possible through modeling for derivative product valuation, financial market risk measurement, and market movement prediction.” Quant is a term derived from ‘quantitative,’ referring to the process of analyzing and calculating numerical data to make investment decisions.
The Financial Industry Committee is one of 13 committees under the KCCI, established in 2007 to serve as a hub for the industry on financial issues. This year marks its 17th anniversary. It functions as a forum where financial suppliers and general enterprises discuss pressing financial sector challenges and promote networking.
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