JAKARTA - The explosion of artificial intelligence or AI has started to raise new questions in South Korea, if the chip company makes a big profit, do the people also have the right to enjoy the results?
The question arose after the South Korean Presidential Chief of Policy, Kim Yong-beom, proposed a public dividend scheme from AI-based economic growth.
Quoted from Yonhap, Tuesday, May 12, the proposal was conveyed by Kim through a post on Facebook, Tuesday. At that time, South Korea's main stock index, KOSPI, was moving towards a record 8,000 points. The increase was supported by chip manufacturers, including Samsung Electronics and SK hynix.
The two tech giants posted their highest ever quarterly profits in the first quarter. Both are key players in the global chip market amid the AI fever.
Kim assessed that the benefits of the AI infrastructure era are not just the work of certain companies. According to him, the benefits stand on the foundation built by the people of South Korea for decades.
"The fruit of the AI infrastructure era is not the result created by a certain company alone. The fruit was born on the foundation that has been built together by all the people for half a century," Kim wrote, quoted by Yonhap.
He said that discussing the use of profits is no longer an option if the company's advantage in the AI infrastructure network creates a long cycle of increase and boosts the country's tax revenue.
"Part of this fruit must be returned structurally to the people," he said.
Kim cited Norway, which instituted a large profit from oil in the 1990s. If South Korea takes a similar path, he proposed the term "public dividend".
According to Kim, the funds can be used to support young people who are pioneering start-up companies, retirement programs for elderly citizens, and retraining of workers in the AI era. However, he emphasized that such decisions require social agreement.
"It is possible that South Korea will be the first country to return the excess profits from the AI era to the people's lives," he said.
However, the South Korean presidential office later distanced itself. Cheong Wa Dae stated that Kim's proposal was not the result of internal discussions or studies by the government, but rather a personal opinion.
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