AI to Monitor Parliamentary and Government Policy Oversight... Yonsei University Selected as OpenAI Policy Research Partner

[Financial News] Artificial intelligence (AI) technology will be formally deployed as a tool to monitor and evaluate whether the National Assembly and local councils are checking the South Korean government and reflecting public opinion in the policymaking process.
Yonsei University announced on the 25th that the Yonsei Institute of State Governance Studies had been selected as the only Korean university to join OpenAI's "Global Policy Research and Demonstration Support Program." OpenAI is the U.S. developer of the generative AI service ChatGPT.
Using research funding and API credits for access to the latest AI models from OpenAI, Yonsei researchers will begin a study on "AI-based democratic accountability assessment and governance policy."
The core of the project is to combine advanced AI language models with vast public datasets to verify the transparency of state administration. The research team plans to conduct detailed AI analysis of public big data, including minutes from the National Assembly and local councils, as well as government policy documents. Through this work, it aims to empirically assess whether the legislature is effectively checking the executive branch and whether the voices of the public and public opinion are properly reflected in policy decisions. The findings will be used to identify ways to strengthen policy capacity in the public sector.
The project is a follow-up to OpenAI's "Industrial Policy for the Intelligence Age" and was designed to explore policy alternatives that can expand economic opportunities and strengthen social resilience as AI technology advances. More than 400 leading universities and policy research institutions around the world applied, and only 14 research projects from countries including South Korea, the United States, the European Union, Singapore, and Brazil passed the final screening.
Sounman Hong, head of the Yonsei Institute of State Governance Studies and professor in the Department of Public Administration, said, "AI is a key tool for enhancing government capacity in an era of major transformation." He added, "Through this research, we will demonstrate how AI can help improve accountability in the public sector, including the legislature, and help develop policy alternatives to solve complex social problems." He also noted, "We will also establish an 'AI governance' framework, including institutional standards and principles for introducing AI safely and effectively into the public sphere."
Meanwhile, Yonsei University will carry out the project in connection with the BK21 education and research team in the Department of Public Administration, which is supported by the Ministry of Education. The university plans to nurture the next generation of digital policy experts by helping graduate students lead AI-based policy research from an early stage. Yonsei University's Department of Public Administration is widely recognized for its strong research capabilities, ranking among the world's top six in the subject area evaluation by the British global university ranking agency QS.

[email protected] Kim Man-ki Reporter