Lee Han-joo, chairman of the National Research Council for Economics, Humanities and Social Sciences, said on the 9th that "the labor shock from the development of artificial intelligence (AI) leads to a fiscal shock," calling for the establishment of a "basic society" model that expands citizens' fundamental rights.
Lee made the remarks in a keynote presentation at the policy forum "The Future of Work: A New Labor Market Coexisting with Artificial Intelligence (AI)," co-hosted by the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MOEF) and the Korea Development Institute (KDI) at the Bank Hall the same day.
According to the National Assembly Budget Office, under the 2025-2072 long-term fiscal outlook, the ratio of revenue to gross domestic product (GDP) will decline from 25.5% in 2025 to 22.0% in 2072, while the ratio of expenditure will rise from 24.5% to 33.6%. Lee explained that the productivity revolution led by AI causes a slowdown in employment, and that fiscal risks could grow as revenue erosion combines with expanding spending due to super-aging.
In fact, companies are already replacing their workforce as AI develops. "Amazon has already decided to replace 600,000 people, and IBM has also announced replacements," Lee said. "Hyundai Motor is also not hiding its push to introduce robots."
Accordingly, Lee stressed that "to preserve human dignity even in the face of the threat of labor's disappearance, basic rights must be guaranteed," adding that "a basic society is the condition for real growth in the AI era."
Specifically, he proposed a "basic financial right" (a national basic financial guarantee system) and a "basic learning right." The basic financial right is intended to guarantee basic "access rights," such as the right to open an account, and to have the state support "asset-building rights," such as youth future savings accounts. The basic learning right is a concept in which finances should be supported so that individuals can proactively design their own learning and careers throughout their lives.
