Korea Press Foundation Survey Report
"People in Their 20s Save for Personal Use, While Those in Their 60s Use as Profile Pictures"
As OpenAI's Studio Ghibli-style photo transformation has become a global trend, the ways people use this feature have been found to differ by generation.
According to a report published on May 1 by the Korea Press Foundation in the latest issue of its 'Media Survey,' an online survey on generative artificial intelligence (AI) found that 59.5% of domestic users of generative AI have used such tools to convert photos into images. Among those who used the image transformation feature, 52.4% said they actively used the resulting images by setting them as profile pictures on social networking services (SNS) or messengers, or by sharing them with acquaintances. Meanwhile, 30.9% said they kept or saved the transformed images for personal use.
An AI image in the style of Studio Ghibli posted by Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, on social networking service (SNS). X
By age group, the percentage of people who used the images as SNS or messenger profile pictures was highest among those in their 60s at 32.8%, and lowest among those in their 20s at 19.6%. Conversely, the percentage who kept or saved the images for personal use was highest among those in their 20s at 37.7%, and lowest among those in their 60s at 20.7%. These results are based on an analysis limited to those who have used the image transformation feature of generative AI.
Regardless of whether they had used generative AI, when considering each age group as the total population and calculating the proportion of people who used AI-generated images as profile pictures, those in their 20s had the highest rate at 17.1%. This was followed by those in their 30s at 16.3%, 40s at 10.7%, 50s at 6.5%, and 60s at 3.4%, showing a decreasing trend with increasing age.
Among respondents, 57.2% had used generative AI within the past month, and of these, 37.0% said their first experience with generative AI was within the past month. Regarding these results, the Korea Press Foundation explained, "The sharp increase in generative AI usage within the past month is presumed to be influenced by the recent trend of 'Ghibli-style' image transformation."
Usage Patterns of AI-Generated Images and Age Group Differences: Korea Press Foundation 'Media Survey'
When generative AI users were asked about their purposes for using the technology (multiple responses allowed), 81% cited information searching as the most common use. This was followed by 51.1% for writing and editing, 51.0% for photo and image generation or enhancement, and 42.1% for foreign language translation. Analyzing the proportion of people who used AI for writing or editing by age group, the highest was among those in their 20s at 68.3%, followed by those in their 30s at 60.0%, 40s at 48.3%, 50s at 37.6%, and 60s at 29.3%.
The Korea Press Foundation analyzed that the higher rate of generative AI use for writing among younger age groups "may be related to an increased sense of burden during the writing process or changes in literacy levels." This survey was conducted online by the Korea Press Foundation Media Research Center from April 17 to 21.
At the end of March, OpenAI released a new image generation AI model called 'ChatGPT-4o Image Generation.' As soon as this model was released, creating images imitating the style of the famous Japanese animation studio 'Studio Ghibli' became a global phenomenon.
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