Key points
▶ SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won lectured on “AI, a New Capitalism and Young People” on Season 6 of EBS’ Great Minds, which aired from October 12 to 16. The series included three lectures and two question-and-answer sessions with young people. SK said on October 18 that he was the first Korean business leader to appear on the program.
▶ Chey identified four capabilities young people will need in the AI era: the ability to think, empathy, adaptability and physical skills. He said AI is a tool that enhances intelligence, but intelligence is not the same as wisdom; solving problems ultimately requires understanding and motivating people.
▶ Asked what he would do if he were in his 20s again, Chey said he would definitely start a business. Rather than focusing on semiconductors, he would take on problems affecting many people, such as water scarcity, carbon emissions and food shortages.
SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won gave young people advice on navigating the AI era. He lectured on “AI, a New Capitalism and Young People” and answered questions from young people on Season 6 of EBS’ Great Minds, which aired from October 12 to 16.
The program consisted of three lectures and two question-and-answer sessions with young people. SK said Chey was the first Korean business leader to appear on the program, which features leading thinkers from around the world. Chey also serves as chairman of the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
“Intelligence is not the same as wisdom”
Chey said that as people use AI more, it will become increasingly important to judge which problems need solving and to work with others.
On the role of leaders in the AI era, he said AI is a tool that enhances intelligence, but intelligence is not the same as wisdom. Solving problems, he said, ultimately requires understanding and motivating people.
He named four capabilities young people need: the ability to think, empathy, adaptability and physical skills. In other words, they should go beyond finding answers that have already been laid out: they need to identify problems for themselves and know how to understand and persuade others.
Chey said that waiting until every risk has been addressed before taking action would make it impossible to keep pace with the speed of AI-driven change. He also emphasized resilience—the ability to try again after failure.
Education, too, needs to change, he said. Schools should move beyond simply delivering knowledge and evaluating students through exams, and become places where students find solutions and conduct experiments themselves. He called for placing greater value on experience solving problems than on academic credentials, and for cultivating the ability to ask questions, think critically and empathize.
“If AI lets you finish eight hours of work in one or two”
In response to a job seeker’s question about how the value of labor might change if AI replaces workers, Chey said people’s choices about work would change.
He said the traditional model of working set hours in a specific role at one company would evolve. For example, if AI reduced a task that once took eight hours to one or two, people could use the remaining time for other work or spend it as they wished.
Asked what he would do if he were in his 20s again, he replied, “First of all, I would definitely start a business.” Rather than going into semiconductors as he has today, he said he would take on problems that affect many people, such as water scarcity, carbon emissions and food shortages. On food, he added that he would look for ways to overcome the limits of existing methods, such as developing new farming techniques or artificial foods.
He advised young people not to take on an enormous challenge from the outset, but to begin with something they care about and can solve. Citing the environment, caregiving, low birth rates and financial inclusion, he said experience solving smaller problems can provide a foundation for tackling bigger ones.
Capitalism that rewards solutions to social problems
The three lectures addressed the economic and social structures that can support individual initiatives, as well as ways to foster national growth. The central idea of the first lecture was to attach financial rewards to results achieved in solving social problems. Chey argued that measuring and rewarding those results would encourage more businesses and social enterprises to participate.
Chey described SK’s Social Progress Credit (SPC) initiative, which has been running for more than a decade. He said companies that received incentives generated at least three times as much social impact as those that did not.
Chey proposed the SPC at the 2013 World Economic Forum in Davos, and the program began in 2015. SK pays social enterprises in cash based on the monetary value of outcomes they achieve, such as creating jobs, supporting vulnerable groups and improving the environment. According to figures announced at the program’s 10th-anniversary event in April, SK had paid 71.5 billion won to 468 social enterprises over the past decade. The social value they generated totaled 495.6 billion won, measured from 2015 to 2023.
In his second lecture, Chey outlined “3S”—speed, scale and safety—as the conditions for national competitiveness in AI. Along with infrastructure and model development, he said, services that bring AI into everyday life and industry are important. He also proposed moving toward an “AI-native society,” where people create and use AI agents themselves and experiment with the technology and related policies.
The final lecture focused on Japan-Korea economic cooperation. Chey said the two countries could create a market worth about $6 trillion by developing into an economic community, a way to respond to geopolitical shifts and declining birth rates and aging populations. He cited energy, AI, health care, tourism, and venture businesses and startups as areas for cooperation, saying a larger market would also expand job and startup opportunities for young people.
Chey said South Korea’s future could be bright if younger generations come up with new ideas and work together to consider solutions.