[Column] The AX Era and the Realization of a 'Smart Life'

At the beginning of the Year of the Dragon, CES 2024 in Las Vegas kicked off with the slogan "All Together, All On," opening the doors to advanced technologies and visions, including AI. The event, which aims to address global challenges by integrating cutting-edge technology across all industries, saw participation from over 4,000 companies from more than 150 countries. In terms of foreign participants, Korea ranked second, following China.

Freed from the constraints of COVID-19, CES attracted 130,000 attendees from around the world. The main themes this year were undoubtedly 'AI and Mobility.' The advent of ChatGPT has seemingly shifted the digital paradigm, making AI a core element across all industrial sectors. Digital Transformation is now an outdated term, replaced by AI Transformation (AX), which seems to define this era's mega trend.

Among the exhibiting companies, nearly half are expanding into various AI convergence fields, such as AI, robotics, IoT, smart homes, energy, digital healthcare, and autonomous driving. The modern father of AI, Dr. Jürgen Schmidhuber, has long emphasized "AI for All." Coincidentally, Samsung displayed the message "AI for All" on a billboard at the Las Vegas Convention Center (LVCC) North Hall.

The monopoly weapon of Big Tech is the digital platform. Now, everyone should benefit from sharing user AI models. The emerging trend of on-device AI, which incorporates generative AI functions into devices without cloud connectivity, is gaining attention. AI embedded in personal smartphones will enable voice recognition, facial recognition, and natural language processing, providing users with faster, more personalized AI agents.

CES is one of the world's top three ICT exhibitions, alongside the Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona, Spain, held every February, and the Internationale Funkausstellung (IFA) in Berlin, Germany, held every September. South Korea is a digital powerhouse, and it is time for us to transition from mere attendees to active leaders at these exhibitions. It is timely that Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon visited CES 2024 and made a meaningful announcement.

Mayor Oh stated, "CES focuses on technology but is not closely related to daily life," and announced the "Smart Life Week (SLW) 2024" event to be held from October 7-9 at COEX in Gangnam-gu, Seoul. SLW, organized by the Seoul Metropolitan Government and hosted by the Seoul Digital Foundation, will be the first event of its kind, aiming to showcase the 'Future of Cities Transformed by Advanced Technology.'

The difference between CES and SLW can be interpreted as 'Technology vs. People,' or more specifically, 'Advanced Technology vs. Daily Life.' With the Seoul city administration's philosophy of "Companionship with the Underprivileged," the new concept event aims to promote domestic innovative companies and lead future technology trends, focusing on people. From the consumer's perspective, SLW will envision smart life styles across the life cycle, as well as future urban living environments, including hospitals, parks, and transportation.

The week will feature various related events, such as demonstrations of new technologies in smart homes, healthcare, beauty, robotics, and autonomous driving, as well as AR experience zones, networking with cities leading global smart cities, the Seoul Smart City Awards, and various conferences. One can imagine the day when the world’s population, pursuing smart lifestyles suited to the AI transformation era, will head to Seoul, a new concept experience center.

The Yoon Suk-yeol administration was the first in the world to declare a 'Digital Bill of Rights,' emphasizing respect for human dignity, digital enjoyment rights, and a new order. The government's Digital Bill of Rights and Seoul's companionship with the underprivileged align with a two-track policy that balances digital innovation with closing the gap. "Smart Life" will be vividly engraved in the October sky of Seoul, set against the backdrop of 'Skycoral,' a color extracted from the pink skies over the Han River.

Kang Yo-sik
President of Seoul Digital Foundation

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