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Kim Myeong-jin, chairman of the Korea Management Innovation Small and Medium Business Association (MainBiz), delivers opening remarks during the 143rd Good Morning CEO Study session held at the Ambassador Seoul Pullman Hotel in Jung-gu, Seoul, on the morning of the 16th. / Photo by Reporter Oh Se-eun

Choi Jae-boong, a professor at Sungkyunkwan University, issued a strong warning that "even if the bubble bursts, the revolution will not stop," stressing that individuals and businesses must study artificial intelligence (AI) for at least 30 minutes every day and integrate it directly into operations to survive.

The Korea Management Innovation Small and Medium Business Association (MAINBiz) hosted the 143rd Good Morning CEO Study session on the 16th at the Ambassador Seoul Pullman Hotel in Jung-gu, Seoul. Delivering a lecture at the event, Professor Choi presented concrete survival strategies and future outlooks for companies to navigate the massive AI revolution.

During the gathering, MAINBiz Chairman Kim Myeong-jin outlined global expansion initiatives designed to facilitate practical overseas market entry for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Kim stated, "From the 18th to the 20th, we will conduct an on-site inspection of economic facilities in the Sino-Korean Demonstration Zone in Changchun, China, alongside business matching between Korean and Chinese firms." He added, "By establishing branches in China's Henan and Shandong provinces by year-end and pursuing multifaceted cooperation with commerce authorities in Zhengzhou and Qingdao, we plan to significantly expand both online and offline sales and investment consultation opportunities for our member companies."

Professor Choi assessed the current AI craze as an immense wave that dwarfs the dot-com bubble more than a hundredfold. Still, he emphasized that "while the bubble may burst, the revolution transforming human life will never grind to a halt." Pointing out that the advent of large language models (LLMs) mimicking human brain neurons and synapses has formally ushered in the era of artificial general intelligence (AGI), he urged business leaders and individuals to study AI for at least 30 minutes a day and actively deploy it across business settings to avoid falling behind amid fierce competition.

In addition, the lecture underscored the critical importance of "Physical AI," which merges software with physical hardware. Citing real-world deployments such as Tesla's Optimus and humanoid robots entering BMW assembly plants, he explained that the era of automated coding has arrived, enabling robots to move autonomously by directly learning and translating human behavioral patterns.

Furthermore, Professor Choi highlighted supply chain restructuring driven by the U.S.-China rivalry, where the U.S. thoroughly sidelines China. "South Korea, equipped with a solid manufacturing base, optimal semiconductor infrastructure, and cutting-edge data centers, is emerging as an indispensable strategic partner for the U.S.," he said, noting, "This is precisely why Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang has held successive meetings with leaders of major Korean corporations to explore close-knit cooperation."

Professor Choi also touched upon the latest technological shifts seen in firms such as Anthropic, observing that "AI has advanced beyond merely answering user prompts to enter the stage of 'AI Agents,' capable of generating necessary questions autonomously, synthesizing massive datasets, and independently crafting reports and presentations."

He noted, "The corporate landscape is rapidly transforming, as global law firms and institutions like JPMorgan adopt AI to boost the efficiency of litigation preparation and reporting by over fivefold while replacing tasks once handled by professional researchers." He advised, "Companies must maximize productivity by safely leveraging cloud-based security services to maintain strict confidentiality, while seamlessly embedding AI agents into everyday workflow processes."

                                                                                                               Oh Se-eun