Free AI for all citizens: this country shifts into high gear

As part of its “ AI for All ” program, the South Korean government will roll out among the population an artificial intelligence that is accessible free of charge and with no limit on use. In other words, in this country, access to artificial intelligence is now considered a public service.A testing phase will begin in September, while its official rollout will take place before the end of the year.

Free AI for everyone, with no usage limits

The AI assistant will perform various functions for the South Korean population. In particular, it will be connected to certain government services, allowing people to make medical appointments or ask tax-related questions. Businesses will also be able to use AI to calculate their taxes. The government also emphasizes the educational dimension of AI for children. More generally, this AI will be able to answer all kinds of questions and queries, as ChatGPT would.

The AI assistant will be provided by three major South Korean groups, namely SK Telecom, KT and Kakao. For its part, the South Korean government has committed to covering part of the operating costs and distributing 512 Nvidia B200 chips among the three companies.

Why is the South Korean government making AI freely available to its population?

Of course, the “AI for Everyone” program is not simply a gesture of generosity. South Korea is pursuing a dual objective. On the one hand, the government wishes toaccelerate the adoption of artificial intelligence (which is already at an advanced stage) by the population.On the other hand, he intends to promote the use of AI models developed in South Korea, in order to limit reliance on American or Chinese solutions.

The battle AI providers are waging to persuade us to favor one model over another is not fought only in our offices and on our computers. Some companies and some countries are now setting up national-scale operations to accelerate the adoption of their tools by an entire population, or at least by part of it. For example, OpenAI is offering Maltese citizens a one-year subscription to ChatGPT Plus, provided they have taken a course at the University of Malta.

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Source: The Wall Street Journal