New value is always born at the boundary where two extremes collide and converge.
As generative AI shakes the world by the day, we are racing fiercely toward the pinnacle of technological advancement. But where does this dazzling cutting-edge technology actually create truly disruptive innovation and enormous added value? Paradoxically, it happens at the very opposite ends of technology — in the realm of the deepest philosophical thought and on the most analog industrial front lines.
First, the true value of advanced artificial intelligence is completed only when it converges with humanity's unique "philosophical questions."
This is an era in which AI speaks human language, writes code, and even creates works of art. When it comes to the question of "how" to handle work efficiently, machines have already begun to overwhelm humans. It is precisely in such times that the core capability left to humans is philosophical reflection — asking "why" we must do this work and "what it means to be human."
Technology provides us with infinite speed and momentum, but it is ultimately human philosophy that determines the right direction. The more advanced technology becomes, AI without ethical consideration and humanistic depth is nothing more than a blind calculator. Just as the pragmatism of Mozi and the flexibility of Zhuangzi from 2,400 years ago are being summoned again as topics of modern management, only when the most advanced technology is combined with the oldest human wisdom does it gain the measure needed to benefit the world.
Second, the real impact of artificial intelligence explodes on the "extreme manufacturing front lines" that appear furthest from AI.
If algorithms born in the comfortable labs of Silicon Valley remain only in chatbots on monitors, their value will be halved. The true nature of AI is revealed when it is grafted onto the front lines of traditional industries — places reeking of sweat, labor-intensive, and even dangerous.
The slaughter robot developed by Robos, a rapidly growing domestic robotics startup, is a case in point. The slaughterhouse, where life is handled and bone and flesh are carved apart, is the front line of the most primal and rough labor — the so-called "3D" (Dirty, Dangerous, Difficult) work. It is an extreme space that seems utterly incompatible with cutting-edge artificial intelligence.
But a revolution occurred precisely when AI machine vision and deep-learning-based precision control robot technology were deployed at this blood-stained site. AI analyzed the irregular forms of living creatures in real time and reproduced the trajectory of a skilled butcher's blade. This convergence, which solved the fundamental problems of chronic labor shortages and harsh working conditions that plagued the slaughter industry, stands as a triumph in which the most analog reality and the most digital technology met to generate explosive added value.
In the end, innovation belongs to the ambidextrous.
The more we live in an era of soaring cutting-edge technology, the more we must simultaneously embrace two extreme tasks. In one hand, we must hold the "deep philosophy" that asks about human nature and the reason for our existence. With the other, we must deeply touch the "fierce front line" stained with iron filings and the blood of beasts.
Only when AI goes beyond the smooth text on the monitor to solve the long-standing challenges of human life and harsh reality will it be transformed into true value for humanity. Herein lies the reason why, in the age of artificial intelligence, we must philosophize more deeply and dig deeper into the bottom of life's front lines. Those who converge the two extremes will dominate the innovation of the coming future.
He is
· Graduated from Korea University, Department of Political Science and International Relations
· Former newspaper reporter
· Former IPO specialist at Shinyoung Securities
· Former overseas investment officer at SK E&S
· Former investment manager at SV Investment
· Current CEO of Gravity Ventures
