Seizing the golden hour for education reform

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Seizing the golden hour for education reform

Published: 03 Jul. 2025, 00:01

Audio report: written by reporters, read by AI

Kim Eun-mi

The author is a professor of communications at Seoul National University.

The global reverberations of artificial intelligence, particularly generative AI, are intensifying. Korea ranks second only to the United States in paid subscribers to ChatGPT, one of the most widely used large language model (LLM)-based AI platforms. Observing how people use it reveals more than just work efficiency; many now engage in hours of dialogue with AI, seeking everything from career advice to deeply personal counseling — something often reserved in human interaction. Among younger generations, AI has already become an integral part of daily life.

In secondary schools and universities, written assignments are now often completed with the help of AI. As a result, grading such assignments has become less meaningful. The quality of the submitted work no longer accurately reflects the thought and effort students have invested in the writing process. As long as grades are determined by the final product, students have little incentive to complete assignments independently, without assistance from AI.

Students prepare to take 2025 College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT) at a high school in Jongno District, central Seoul, on November 14, 2024. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]

The value of writing lies in the process — engaging with diverse sources, selecting relevant information, eliminating the unnecessary, and forming original arguments. AI skips this cognitive journey and delivers a finished product. In the gap between traditional teaching methods and the rapid advancement of AI, student learning capacity could be significantly diminished.

How, then, should education evolve in the age of AI? While the needs of each learning environment vary, there is broad consensus that education should shift away from producing individuals who simply answer questions, toward nurturing those who can ask critical and layered questions based on available answers. In AI systems, the quality of the output often depends on the quality of the prompt. In the near future, differences in performance will be shaped less by degrees or knowledge volume, and more by the ability to ask the right questions. But as long as Korea’s college entrance system remains centered on the CSAT, students will continue to be trained in finding the correct answers and avoiding mistakes — leaving little space for inquisitive thinking.

On the morning of the 2025 College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT) for the 2025 academic year, test-takers head toward the exam site at Taejang High School in Yeongtong District, Suwon. [YONHAP]

AI platforms typically present users with a blank screen — unlike portal sites filled with ready-made content. For those who can formulate meaningful queries, AI becomes a powerful ally. It also enables more accessible, interdisciplinary thinking. However, this advantage is limited to those with intellectual curiosity, perseverance and foundational learning skills. Drawing out a student’s inner motivation is a task better suited to human teachers than machines. With Korea’s school-age population shrinking, this is not the time to reduce teacher numbers, but to strengthen their capacity to work alongside AI in supporting individual student growth.

The flaws in Korea’s education system have long been highlighted, and numerous promising alternatives have been proposed. But the rise of AI has made change no longer optional. It is now imperative. In the past, successive governments have failed to deliver meaningful reform despite strong rhetoric. The National Education Commission, launched under the previous administration to chart long-term education policy, was paralyzed by political division and achieved little. Even as experts called for the abolition of the CSAT, the Ministry of Education in the preceding administration caved to public pressure about fairness and pushed universities to expand test-based admissions.

Today presents a rare golden opportunity. A new administration, backed by a parliamentary majority, has five full years ahead of it. The conditions are ripe for sweeping reform. The new government has also declared its commitment to maximizing the potential of AI through a broad policy agenda.

This illustration photograph shows screens displaying the logo of DeepSeek, a Chinese AI company that develops open-source large language models, and the logo of OpenAI's artificial intelligence chatbot ChatGPT on Jan. 29. [AP/YONHAP]

Why not seriously consider phasing out the CSAT? Setting a definitive timeline — five or 10 years from now — could allow universities and secondary schools to prepare for the transition. Instead of focusing solely on minimizing the friction and confusion such a shift would inevitably bring, the goal should be more ambitious. True leadership, after all, requires the courage to make unpopular but necessary choices.

AI itself will not resolve the structural problems in our society. The government’s slogan, “AI for All,” will carry real meaning only when AI helps individuals discover and grow along their own unique paths. Education must never be treated merely as a means to achieve other policy objectives. It is the very foundation on which our future depends.

Translated from the JoongAng Ilbo using generative AI and edited by Korea JoongAng Daily staff.