The artificial intelligence era starts in full force

The Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2024 ended this year’s extravaganza on the newest tech trends and gadgets in Las Vegas. The platform serves as an exhibition of the up-and-coming and future technologies across the world. This year’s show drew 4,295 companies from more than 150 countries vying to lead the innovations that can shape the future of tech. From Korea, 781 companies including startups, joined this year’s event, the third largest after the United States with 1,148 and China with 1,104.

Key themes for this year evolved around AI, mobility, robotics, and net-zero carbon emission, but it was AI fever that stole the show. Application of AI across all possible industries to leverage on smart machines to address universal challenges to the mankind were the central theme. Generative AI gave traction to the AI power. The AI-led revolution is expected to shake the paradigm across industries and determine the fate of enterprises and nations.

CEOs from big-box retailer Walmart and makeup brand L’Oreal in keynote speeches stressed traditional industries cannot survive without joining the AI-triggered digital revolution. McKinsey projects AI has the potential to add $13 trillion to the global GDP by 2030.

Korean companies are also aggressive in using AI for their businesses. Samsung Electronics presented memory chips to power generative AI and on-device AI-enabled tasks.

American pop legend Stevie Wonder stopped by the Hyundai and Kia booth for a feel of Hyundai autonomous car and the purpose-built concept van of Kia. Korean builders and manufacturers have joined the AI bandwagon. Korean startups were most active in the CES 2024. Nearly half or 45 percent of the booths at the Eureka Park were filled by Korean startups. In the end, Korean startups swept 16 out of 28 Innovation Awards themed on AI debuting in this year’s CES.

The question is how the AI passion in the corporate level can be leveraged to strengthen Korea’s industrial and national competitiveness. Companies must not be happy with showing off their capacity at CES. They must invest more on R&D, and the government must cheer them on through continuous talent supply and deregulations.

The government and legislature also must restructure labor-related regulations in tune with the AI era and ensure effective ways to minimize the fallouts and side effects from the diffusion of AI technologies. The Seoul Metropolitan Government is planning to stage a Korean version of CES to enable local players to show off their technologies and draw foreign investment amid the heated global race over AI supremacy.