Rapid growth of 19% annually driven by the rapid advancement of technologies such as big data and cloud computing
Lack of competitiveness in domestic core software technology and inferiority in investment scale and brand recognition

The Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning has unveiled the draft Technology Roadmap 2022, which adds artificial intelligence to the 10 major ICT R&D technology fields. The 10 major ICT R&D technologies selected by the Ministry to strengthen the interconnectedness of science and technology and ICT and to discover new industries are: digital content, convergence services, ICT devices, information security, mobile communications, networks, broadcasting/smart media, radio waves and satellites, software, foundational SW computing, and (added) artificial intelligence. Accordingly, e4ds News presents the future technology development roadmap by introducing the R&D strategies for these fields in turn.

The "Go match of the century" between Google's AlphaGo and Lee Sedol at the beginning of the year brought an artificial intelligence frenzy to our society. In response, the government also added a technology roadmap for the field of artificial intelligence separately from the top 10 ICT R&D sectors.

Artificial intelligence is an ICT technology designed to realize high-level human information processing capabilities, such as cognitive, learning, reasoning, and comprehension abilities. It is considered a key player in the Fourth Industrial Revolution, which is envisioned as an "evolution into a society where everything is connected and more intelligent." Intelligent information technology refers to the convergence technology of intelligent information processing software and hardware that realizes new intelligent services by combining 'intelligence' implemented through artificial intelligence technology with 'information' based on big data, IoT, and the cloud.


▲ The Go match between Google's AlphaGo and Lee Se-dol last March instantly brought artificial intelligence to the forefront as a major issue in our society. (The photo shows Lee Se-dol 9-dan deep in thought before entering the match venue. Source: Korea Baduk Association)

This refers to technologies that mimic human intelligence, such as learning and reasoning, contextual reasoning, language comprehension, visual comprehension, and cognitive computing. It also includes integrated technologies such as AI chips, brain science/engineering, convergent intelligence, AI platforms, and neuromorphic computing, as well as related technologies such as robots, cloud computing, knowledge services, IoT/big data, autonomous vehicles, AR/VR, and drones.

Artificial intelligence is rapidly advancing new learning methods and application technologies driven by the simultaneous growth of big data and cloud technologies. While core AI technologies such as language and vision are approaching human levels and evolving into self-learning and knowledge-growth technologies, the system still falls significantly short in terms of intelligence.

The global market grew from $7.5 billion in 2015 to $13.1 billion in 2018.

The market outlook is very bright. The global market is projected to grow at an annual average rate of 19.8% from $7.5 billion in 2015 to $13.1 billion in 2018. Looking at the sales forecast by product type related to artificial intelligence, expert systems are expected to grow from $3,950 million in 2015 to $5,960 million in 2018, the autonomous robots market from $1,668 million to $3,003 million, and the intelligent virtual assistants market from $769 million to $1,707 million.

As such, expert systems and autonomous robots are expected to lead the artificial intelligence market. The areas in which expert systems will be used are highly diverse, and they are likely to take the form of long-tail businesses. Autonomous robots are expected to be primarily used in manufacturing sectors (automotive, food manufacturing, electrical and electronics, etc.) and are anticipated to include functions capable of efficiently managing production and inventory.

The domestic artificial intelligence market grew at an annual average rate of 19.8% from 143.4 billion won in 2015 to 249.7 billion won in 2018. This figure is based on the assumption that the domestic market accounts for 1.6% of the global market.


▲ Major companies and AI technology utilization in key application areas (Source: ETRI AI Technology and Industrial Potential Report)

As such, artificial intelligence has begun to attract attention as an engine to drive the Fourth Industrial Revolution, and it is a field with high expectations as a technology for securing productivity to address population decline and aging. Strong government policies to support and promote various IT services by utilizing the latest world-class ICT technologies are also considered a strength. The world-class terminal development and commercialization capabilities, along with a market environment that shows relatively low resistance to new technologies and change, are also positive factors.

However, it has weaknesses such as a lack of competitiveness in foundational core software technology, inferior investment scale and brand recognition, a domestic-centric market structure, and insufficient experience in entering global markets. The shortage of highly skilled professionals compared to global companies in developed countries is also a problem. Furthermore, there is resistance to the application of convergence industries due to a lack of secured technological stability and reliability, and threats arise from the accelerating global competition in technology and markets centered around existing leading companies. Additionally, concerns regarding the negative consequences of AI technology advancements, such as job losses and human rights violations, cannot be ignored.

Goal to achieve over 85% of the world's highest technology level by 2022

Accordingly, the government has a vision to realize a global powerhouse in the AI convergence industry by 2022 by securing competitiveness in five key AI core technologies. CP Kim Hyung-cheol stated, “We have set a goal to achieve a technological level of over 85% compared to the world’s leading nations by 2022,” adding, “The strategy is to develop core AI technologies with the goal of preempting the global market, create new industries through collaboration with related technologies, and establish an intelligent ecosystem for the convergence industry.”

As of 2015, the level of language comprehension technology is 79.4%, visual comprehension is 70.9%, spatial comprehension is 66.3%, and sentiment comprehension is 64.7%. Accordingly, among the five major fields of artificial intelligence, large-scale flagship projects are being pursued in the fields of situational comprehension and visual comprehension, which will lead the intelligence of convergence industries; the focus is on securing source technologies for learning and reasoning and situational comprehension technologies, while the focus is on securing basic foundational technologies for cognitive computing technology. In addition, we plan to create a new intelligent information industry ecosystem by strengthening cooperation with related technologies such as big data and cloud computing.

In response, CP Kim Hyung-chul stated, “It is urgent to overcome the limitations of domestic technological capabilities by promoting the development of core technologies for the intelligentization of convergence industries, such as learning and reasoning, situational awareness, language comprehension, and visual comprehension, as well as through international joint research and joint development with open source software leaders.” <End of Series>