'AI's future hinges on smarter users, better chips, new business models'

Lee Se-dol, former professional champion in the game of go, speaks during the 2026 CEO Summer Forum hosted by the Federation of Korean Industries (FKI) at Lotte Hotel Jeju, Thursday. Courtesy of FKI

JEJU ISLAND — The next phase of the artificial intelligence (AI) revolution will be defined not by the race to build bigger language models, but by AI literacy, energy-efficient semiconductor design and AI-native business models, speakers at the 2026 CEO Summer Forum hosted by the Federation of Korean Industries (FKI) said Thursday.

Lee Se-dol, former professional champion in the game of go and now special professor at the Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology, said the rise of AI requires human beings to hold on to their belief and philosophical ideas, while avoiding being constrained by fixed ways of thinking.

"Humans should continue to uphold their convictions and philosophy in the AI era, but we also need to lower our preconceived notions," Lee said during the annual FKI forum. "Only then can we make decisions that are suited to a world shaped by AI."

Lee also said that AI literacy will become a major determinant of future competitiveness. He explained that the gap between the people who use AI merely to ask simple questions and those who fully leverage AI agents and agentic AI systems will exceed the divide traditionally associated with literacy.

AI's ability to generate unconventional ideas stems from its lack of human biases and entrenched assumptions, according to Lee.

"From a human perspective, AI has no fixed mindset," he said. "Not only in go but across many fields, there are moments when AI produces remarkably creative ideas. That is possible because it is not confined by the frameworks and preconceptions that humans have."

FuriosaAI CEO June Paik speaks during the 2026 CEO Summer Forum hosted by the Federation of Korean Industries (FKI) at Lotte Hotel Jeju, Thursday. Courtesy of FKI

FuriosaAI CEO June Paik said the next phase of AI will hinge not only on computing power, but also on breakthroughs in chip design, world-class engineering talent and energy efficiency. The company manufactures AI accelerators.

He credited Nvidia's rise to its willingness to rethink the role of graphics processors beyond gaming and to cultivate a robust software ecosystem, calling it an example of "out-of-the-box thinking."

Despite limited funding in its early years, Paik said FuriosaAI pursued a goal of building globally competitive AI chips, rather than competing only within the domestic market.

Looking ahead, he forecast explosive demand for inference chips, as AI services become mainstream. While graphic processing units continue to dominate the market, he argued that energy-efficient AI accelerators will become increasingly critical as electricity emerges as the biggest constraint on AI data centers.

"The essence of AI computing is energy efficiency," Paik said. "Hardware, software and algorithms must all be designed together to maximize performance while minimizing power consumption."

Ably CEO Kang Seok-hoon speaks during the 2026 CEO Summer Forum hosted by the Federation of Korean Industries (FKI) at Lotte Hotel Jeju, Thursday. Courtesy of FKI

Ably CEO Kang Seok-hoon, meanwhile, said AI should be viewed not merely as a tool for improving shopping recommendations, but as the foundation for a new commerce ecosystem that lowers the barriers to entrepreneurship and enables millions of small businesses to thrive. Ably is an online shopping platform established in 2015.

Kang argued that traditional e-commerce requires entrepreneurs to handle every aspect of the business, from sourcing products and photographing merchandise to logistics, customer service and accounting. He said such complexity discourages many talented creators from scaling their businesses.

Ably instead automates much of that process, allowing sellers to focus on product selection and content creation, while the platform manages inventory, fulfillment, marketing and customer support.

AI plays an equally central role on the consumer side. Kang said the company's recommendation engine analyzes individual shopping behavior to build sophisticated preference graphs, enabling personalized recommendations across fashion, beauty, home products and other lifestyle categories.

"Every user sees a different storefront," he said, noting that millions of customers receive uniquely tailored recommendations based on their tastes, rather than generic rankings.