As the global competition to dominate Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology intensifies, South Korea has shown the most significant technological advancement among major countries in the past five years.
A report titled Recent Trends in the Level of Artificial Intelligence (AI) Technology in Korea and Major Countries, published by the Software Research Institute on the 28th, states that South Korea’s AI technology level was 81.6% compared to the world’s leading countries in 2018. However, it has since improved to 88.9% in 2022, a 7.3 percentage point increase. On the other hand, Japan’s relative technological level compared to the United States has declined over the past five years.
According to the survey, the overall technological level in the field of AI in 2022 was highest in the United States (100%), followed by China (92.5%), Europe (92.4%), South Korea (88.9%), and Japan (86.2%). Compared to the previous year, the relative technological level of leading countries compared to the United States has declined. This signifies that the United States, as the world’s leading technology holder, has widened the technological gap with other major countries.
Among these, South Korea decreased by 0.2 percentage points compared to the previous year, while Europe and Japan fell by 0.5 and 0.7 percentage points, respectively. China showed the largest decline with a 0.8 percentage point decrease in AI technology level compared to the previous year in 2022.
Also, as of 2022, the United States is the world’s leading country in learning intelligence. The technological gap compared to the United States was smallest in China (0.9 years), followed by Europe (1.0 years), South Korea (1.3 years), and Japan (1.7 years). The technological gap refers to the estimated time it will take to reach the technological level of the world’s leading technology holder as of the survey date.
In the field of single intelligence, the United States was also the world’s leading technology holder, and the technological gap compared to the United States was smallest in China (0.3 years), followed by South Korea (1.5 years), Europe (1.6 years), and Japan (2.0 years). In the field of composite intelligence, the technological gap compared to the United States was smallest in Europe (0.5 years), followed by Japan (0.9 years), South Korea (1.0 years), and China (1.3 years). China, which has the closest technological level to the United States in all AI fields, showed a lower technological level than other countries in composite intelligence.
Senior Researcher Kangho Bong from the Software Policy Research Institute said, “Although the current level of AI technology in Korea is somewhat lacking compared to the world’s leading technology holders, such as the United States and China, Korea is the fastest developing country among major developed countries.” He emphasized that “a national effort involving cooperation between the private sector and the government is necessary in a situation where we need to secure a dominant position in the new competitive paradigm.”
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