KISDI Identifies Social Inequalities Arising from AI Expansion and Presents 21 Social Agenda Items for an Inclusive AI Era (detail)

※ URL(Korean): https://www.kisdi.re.kr/bbs/view.do?bbsSn=114977&key=m2101113055776&pageIndex=1&sc=&sw=

KISDI Basic Research (25-16)
Social Agenda for Inclusion and Shared Growth in the AI Era

KISDI Identifies Social Inequalities Arising from AI Expansion and Presents 21 Social Agenda Items for an Inclusive AI Era
................................................................................................................................................
▲ Identifies limitations of existing social institutions across five areas: labor, public administration, users, the information ecosystem, and regional development
▲ Examines labor market changes, including job restructuring, weakened career pathways for young workers, and unequal transition costs
▲ Highlights institutional gaps, including unclear accountability, limited explainability, and risks of excessive surveillance
▲ Warns of widening regional AI innovation gaps due to the concentration of data centers, investment, and talent in the Seoul metropolitan area

The Korea Information Society Development Institute (KISDI, President Sangkyu Rhee) recently published its Basic Research Report (25-16), *Social Agenda for Inclusion and Shared Growth in the AI Era*. The report analyzes the mechanisms through which AI may deepen social inequality and presents key questions to support broad social discussion and consensus building.

Rather than serving as a white paper proposing specific policy measures, the report was designed as a green paper that diagnoses emerging challenges and lays the foundation for public debate. It examines patterns of imbalance and inequality arising from AI adoption across five areas—labor, public administration, users, the information ecosystem, and regional development—and identifies 21 social agenda items to guide future public dialogue and follow-up policy research.

The report builds on KISDI's previous research on AI-related social policies by selecting five policy areas closely linked to ongoing research. Researchers actively engaged in each field participated in the study to enhance its relevance for future policymaking. The report also seeks to identify emerging issues that have not been sufficiently addressed under current policy frameworks and to provide a basis for developing more concrete policy measures.

The findings indicate that AI is intensifying disparities and conflicts across all five areas because existing institutional arrangements are no longer functioning as intended. Social norms, rights structures, and distribution mechanisms established under previous policy frameworks do not adequately reflect the realities of AI-driven transformation. The report therefore emphasizes the need to redesign institutional foundations so that the risks and opportunities associated with AI can be managed in a balanced manner and their benefits shared more broadly across society.

In the labor sector, the study analyzes the Korean labor market using a dynamic AI exposure framework and identifies several emerging challenges, including job restructuring, the erosion of career pathways for younger workers, unequal distribution of transition costs, and the growing use of algorithmic management.

In the area of public administration, the report combines case studies of AI-enabled public services with surveys of public acceptance to identify key policy issues, including the technical stability of government administrative systems, accountability for AI-related errors, the risk of excessive surveillance, and the explainability of AI-based administrative decisions.

For users, the study focuses on vulnerable groups rather than the general population. Drawing on interviews with field experts, it examines disparities in AI access and discusses institutional measures to strengthen AI literacy as a fundamental right and to ensure universal accessibility through legal and regulatory reforms.

In the information ecosystem, the report analyzes how AI-generated content influences information perception and sharing behavior through experimental research. It identifies the concentration of information power and the growing tendency toward selective information consumption as major concerns.

For regional development, the study empirically examines differences in AI adoption across regions and highlights the geographical concentration of AI infrastructure, including data centers, as well as widening regional disparities in AI innovation capacity.

Ahram MOON, Fellow at KISDI, noted that AI-driven transformation extends beyond technological or industrial change and is fundamentally reshaping the balance and governance of labor, public administration, users, information, and regional development. She emphasized that, alongside addressing individual policy issues, greater effort is needed to identify and openly discuss the fundamental questions required to redesign the broader principles governing society.

The report recommends several policy directions to promote inclusion and shared growth in the AI era, including establishing fair mechanisms to share the costs of labor market transition and strengthen worker protection, enhancing accountability and explainability in AI-enabled public services, ensuring universal access to AI literacy and digital inclusion, developing public-interest principles for a trustworthy information ecosystem, and pursuing balanced regional development strategies to reduce disparities in AI infrastructure, talent, and industrial capacity. It further emphasizes that these social agenda items should be refined through continued policy research and broad public deliberation.

KISDI News

KISDI Identifies Social Inequalities Arising from AI Expansion and Presents 21 Social Agenda Items for an Inclusive AI Era