It is anticipated that competition among nations over core sovereign technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) models, AI semiconductors, next-generation communications, cybersecurity, and quantum computing will intensify.

Hong Jin-bae, President of the Institute of Information & Communications Technology Planning & Evaluation, emphasized during the opening remarks at the '2026 AI+ICT Industry and Technology Outlook Conference' held at the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Jung-gu, Seoul, on the 12th, that "the winner in the AI era will be determined not only by technology but also by the speed of execution," and stressed the need for bold goals to design the future and agile execution to realize them.

This year's conference was organized as a strategic platform for South Korea to proactively respond to the AI paradigm shift. It particularly drew attention from the industry by presenting the top 10 AI and ICT core themes for the coming year. This outlook is characterized by encompassing changes across society, including industrial structure, jobs, security, and energy, beyond mere technological trends.

● AI Persona... Autonomous Agents in Everyday Life

The Institute of Information & Communications Technology Planning & Evaluation first focused on the evolution of AI from being a command-following entity to an autonomous agent that makes its own judgments and actions. It is projected that 'social AI,' which understands emotions and intentions, and personalized 'AI personas' will become commercialized, leading to the widespread adoption of hyper-personalized services. Discussions at the event also covered the potential application of AI characters and virtual assistants in commerce and healthcare.

● Physical AI, Intelligence in All Moving Things

There is also a prediction that the era of 'Physical AI,' where physical devices such as drones, autonomous vehicles, and ships are embedded with AI, will begin in earnest. It is interpreted that the completion of training technologies that narrow the gap between Physical AI foundation models and reality will determine their level of perfection. Industry insiders evaluated that there will be immediate demand in manufacturing, logistics, care, and household sectors.

● From Learning to Inference... Major Shift in AI Semiconductors

The spread of 'inference'-centric AI services has exposed the limitations of the existing GPU-centered structure. Consequently, there is an observation that the market for specialized semiconductors with low power and low cost, and NPUs (Neural Processing Units) that implement on-device AI, will grow rapidly. Experts also believe that the importance of memory semiconductors will increase.

● AI Ready Data

AI competitiveness is divided by the ability to secure and utilize data. Therefore, securing 'AI ready data' that AI can immediately use for learning and inference is also emphasized as a key point. Based on this, the quality, structuring, and standardization of data are expected to become strategic assets in the future.

● Productivity Revolution... Expansion to All Industries

AI has evolved to a level that can understand situations and contexts and perform complex controls. In manufacturing, smart factories and dark factories are spreading. There is also a prediction that the productivity revolution will likely expand to professional services such as healthcare, law, and finance. The industry anticipates that AI applications will redefine the criteria for competitiveness across all industries.

● Restructuring of Industry and Talent... Competition for Elite AI Talent

The proliferation of AI is restructuring industry structures and job paradigms. Companies are expected to engage in strategic competition to secure elite talent capable of designing and operating AI. It is also predicted that government-level policies linking education, retraining, and R&D will support this.

● AI Security Directly Linked to National Security

Along with this, due to the misuse, addiction, and increased cyber threats of AI technology, AI security is being recognized as a national security issue, and it is anticipated that the establishment of intelligent and proactive security systems and the advancement of the AI safety ecosystem will emerge as essential tasks.

● Preparing for the Autonomous Network 6G Era

Fully autonomous networks where AI autonomously operates network operations are also emerging. Networks that perform optimization without human intervention are expected to become the core of 6G-based industrial infrastructure. The host explained that the domestic network competitiveness is expected to be strengthened with the freestanding demonstration next year.

● Sustainable Energy Innovation... Low-Power-Centric AI Strategy

With the spread of data centers and AI services, power consumption is surging. It is observed that next year, the global power usage of data centers will be more than twice that of South Korea's total consumption. It was introduced that low-power AI semiconductors and model lightweighting technologies are emerging as key competitive factors.

● New Wave... BCI and Quantum AI

Finally, as brain-computer interfaces (BCI) and quantum computing-based quantum AI enter the stage of real-world application, it is projected that the transition to the next-generation computing paradigm will begin. The combination of spatial computing and high-performance computing has shown the potential to create new services and industries.

Park Tae-hwan, Director of Information and Communications Industry Policy at the Ministry of Science and ICT, who attended the event, stated, "AI is redesigning not only industries and the economy but also society as a whole and everyday life," and emphasized, "We are now at a turning point to leap beyond an ICT powerhouse to an AI powerhouse."

He added, "The government is expanding next year's AI budget to KRW 10.1 trillion, more than three times this year's, and is securing 260,000 NVIDIA GPUs, laying the foundation for a leap in the three major AI fields," and "Through this, we will develop world-class AI models and expand industry-specific AI ecosystems in manufacturing, bio, and other sectors."
Meanwhile, the conference, which runs until the 14th, focuses on topics such as ▲2026 AI and ICT Industry Major Issue Outlook ▲ICT R&D Core Technology Strategy ▲AI Talent Development and International Collaborative Research Cooperation.

President Hong Jin-bae stated, "This discussion, with the participation of industry, academia, research, and government, will be a practical cooperation platform to realize the vision of 'Korea as one of the top three AI powerhouses,'" and added, "We will accelerate the innovative growth of the domestic ICT industry ecosystem by promoting inter-industry linkage and technology convergence."

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