Chey Tae-won Says Competitiveness in the AI Era Depends on Four “Muscles”: Thinking, Adaptation, Empathy and Body Skills

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[Financial News] Chey Tae-won, chairman of SK Group and KCCI, has presented "four muscles" as the core capabilities that people need to live in the age of artificial intelligence (AI).
According to SK Group on the 29th, Chey appeared on KBS 1TV’s "Docu Insight - Talent War 2: Chey Tae-won’s Answer," which aired on the 28th, and said the standards for talent are changing as AI spreads. He stressed that individuals must also develop new capabilities.
He predicted that as the era of agentic AI, in which AI makes decisions and acts on its own, becomes fully established, the gap in competitiveness between individuals will widen further depending on their ability to use AI. He also said the value of generalist-type talent, who can move across different fields and design a society and systems where humans and AI coexist, will rise above that of people who specialize in only one area.
Chey identified four "muscles" that are difficult for AI to replace: thinking, adaptation, empathy and body skills.
He said, "Training to quickly absorb knowledge and do well on tests is now being replaced by AI," adding, "What matters is the ability to ask yourself why something is happening and to think through the essence of the problem."
He continued, "Adaptability and resilience, which allow you to recover after failure and keep making new choices, are also important," and emphasized, "AI’s ability to empathize is quite limited, so empathy, which only humans can have, will also become an even more important competitive edge."
He added, "Value created through human physical activity, such as music, art and sports, can bring joy or comfort to people."
Chey said competitiveness at the national and corporate levels will also be determined by how well AI is used. He argued that for South Korea to emerge as an AI powerhouse, it must secure three elements: speed, by accelerating technological progress; scale, by expanding large-scale infrastructure and investment; and safety, so that the public can trust and use AI.
He stated, "We need to speed up technological development and expand scale by building large-scale AI infrastructure and investment, while also establishing the social and institutional foundation that allows people to use AI safely."
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one1@fnnews.com Jung Won-il Reporter