One in Three Koreans Has Used Generative AI Services Like ChatGPT

Ministry of Science and ICT Announces "2024 Internet Usage Survey"
Generative AI Usage Rate Doubles Compared to 2023
Shift from Purchase Economy to Subscription Economy
Increase in Overseas Direct Purchase Users

Customers visiting the Apple Store in Myeongdong, Jung-gu, Seoul, are viewing Apple's first AI smartphone, the iPhone 16, which was released in Korea on the 20th. Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@

One in three South Koreans responded that they have experienced generative artificial intelligence (AI) services like ChatGPT. These generative AI services were mainly used for information search, document work, and foreign language translation.

According to the "2024 Internet Usage Survey" released on the 30th by the Ministry of Science and ICT, the proportion of respondents who have experienced generative AI services nearly doubled from 17.6% in 2023 to 33.3% in 2024. The usage areas were simple information search (81.9%), document work assistance (44.4%), foreign language translation (40.0%), creative and hobby activity assistance (15.2%), and coding and program development (6.3%), in that order.

The percentage of respondents who said they have experienced AI services steadily increased from 32.4% in 2021 to 60.3% in 2024. Specifically, it was 32.4% in 2021, 42.4% in 2022, 50.8% in 2023, and 60.3% in 2024.

Satisfaction with the degree of AI assistance was highest in the transportation sector, such as autonomous driving (98.3%). The need and future intention to use AI were highest in residential convenience areas, such as household support robots and Internet of Things (IoT) home appliances (need 78.2%, intention to use 58.7%).

The subscription model for goods and services such as groceries, online video services (OTT), and software appeared across the digital economy. The rate of using subscription services when purchasing internet products increased about 3.8 times from 13.1% in 2023 to 49.4% in 2024. The increase in subscription service usage by age group was led by those in their teens to 30s. Compared to 2023, the increase was 43.6 percentage points for teenagers, 40 percentage points for people in their 20s, and 37 percentage points for those in their 30s.

As overseas direct purchase sites like AliExpress and Temu directly entered the Korean market, the rate of overseas direct purchase among internet shoppers increased about 1.7 times from 20% in 2023 to 34.3% in 2024. By age group, people in their 30s had the highest rate (47.2%), followed by those in their 20s (43.5%) and 40s (36.8%). Especially, people in their 20s and 30s actively engaged in overseas direct purchases, with usage rates increasing by nearly 20 percentage points compared to the previous year.

The internet access rate for all households (the proportion of households surveyed that have internet access) remained the same as the previous year at 99.97%. The internet usage rate among household members aged 3 and older (the proportion of people aged 3 and older who used the internet within the last month) increased by 0.5 percentage points from the previous year to 94.5%. Among internet users, 90.5% used the internet at least once a day. They used the internet for an average of 20.5 hours per week. The region with the highest internet usage rate was Daegu (97.5%), and the lowest was Gangwon (88.9%).

Among internet users, 97.7% used instant messengers. The most used messenger was KakaoTalk (98.0%). Additionally, 95.4% of internet users used video services. The most used platform was one-person media channels (68.3%).

Regarding this survey, Eom Yeol, Director of Information and Communication Policy at the Ministry of Science and ICT, emphasized, “AI technology is no longer new but has become an essential foundation of our daily lives,” and added, “We will actively discover and promote various policy tasks such as strengthening user capabilities and establishing ethical usage guidelines so that AI services can be more usefully applied in the daily lives of the public.”

The 2024 Internet Usage Survey was conducted on 25,509 households nationwide and 60,229 household members aged 3 and older. The survey results can be found on the websites of the Ministry of Science and ICT and the National Information Society Agency.