Ha Jungwoo: "AI Should Be Designed to Alleviate Human Suffering Like Compassion"

Industrial Strategy and Buddhist Popularization Proposed at Jogye Order Special Lecture
Emphasis on Merging Sovereign AI and Buddhist Philosophy
AIDC Strategy Suggestions: "Leveraging Competitiveness in Semiconductors, Automobiles, and Biotechnology"

Ha Jungwoo, former Chief of AI Future Planning at the Presidential Office, emphasized that artificial intelligence data centers (AIDC) established in Korea should not merely serve as facilities to process computational demands of overseas big tech companies, but should instead be utilized as a foundation to support the AI transformation of Korea's core industries such as semiconductors, automobiles, biotechnology, and distribution.

On the 21st, Ha Jung-woo, former Chief AI Future Planning Officer at the Blue House, is waiting to give a keynote speech on the theme "The Future of Korean Buddhism in the AI Era" at the Korean Buddhist History and Culture Memorial Hall in Jongno-gu, Seoul. Photo by Yonhap News

On the 21st, at the Korea Buddhist History and Culture Center in Jongno-gu, Seoul, Ha delivered a lecture titled "AI, Talking About the Future of Korean Buddhism" to the administrative staff of the Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism and others, offering strategies for the growth of Korea's AI industry and responses for the Buddhist community. Before the lecture, he also had a discussion with Jinwoo Sunim, President of the Jogye Order, on the possibilities and risks of AI.

He pointed out that, although local governments have recently been competing to attract AIDCs by offering subsidized electricity rates and land, it is more important who uses the computational power and "intelligence" produced there and for what purpose, rather than the mere presence of such facilities. He argued that if domestic electricity, water, and land are invested, but the data centers are only used to support services of overseas platforms, the added value returned to Korea's industries may be limited.

Ha has explained that AIDCs should not be seen simply as facilities for storing servers and renting out computational resources, but rather as "intelligence factories" that generate the minimum AI processing unit known as "tokens" using electricity, water, GPUs, and data. If this intelligence produced here is transplanted into robotics and manufacturing sectors within Korea, the country could become not just a consumer of AI but also an exporter that supplies intelligence to other countries.

He especially emphasized that Korea should leverage its world-class competitiveness in memory semiconductors as a lever to secure AI sovereignty. Without independent AI models and data center operational capabilities, it will be difficult to break away from a dependent structure of continuously paying usage fees to overseas AI platforms. He also suggested that Korea should nurture not only AIDC hardware but also cloud and software companies capable of stably operating large-scale facilities.

In addition to industrial strategy, Ha also presented insights on how Buddhist philosophy could inform the development and use of AI. He explained from the perspective of "dependent arising (yeongi)” that AI outcomes do not emerge independently from a single cause but are created through the relationships among data, design, user input, and other factors. Like the Buddhist concept of “impermanence (musang),” AI changes rapidly, making it essential to continually update and verify its outputs. From the perspective of "karma" and causality, he asserted there must be responsibility for the selection of data, design, and the results of use.

On the 21st, Ha Jung-woo, former Blue House Chief of AI Future Planning, is giving a lecture titled "The Future of Korean Buddhism in the AI Era" at the Korean Buddhist History and Culture Memorial Hall in Jongno-gu, Seoul. Photo by Yonhap News

He stated, "It is important to design and use generative AI in a way that alleviates human suffering and provides help, just like compassion," adding that one can find the ethical standards AI should pursue in Buddhism, beyond mere technological performance competition. He explained that since AI holds both advantages and risks, the key is not judging the technology as good or evil, but determining what data it is trained on and how it is used.

He advised the Buddhist community to systematically digitize analog resources such as scriptures, Buddhist knowledge, and sermons by monks. He suggested that training a dedicated government AI foundation model with these resources could create a specialized AI capable of accurately understanding and explaining Buddhist doctrine, serving as a tool to help both domestic and international practitioners study doctrine, find emotional care, and support training. He also suggested ways for younger generations to produce Buddhist content such as videos and images using generative AI authoring tools.

Jinwoo Sunim stated, "AI is also a part of the ongoing flow of civilization," adding, "It is important to research and use it for the benefit of both oneself and others." He further emphasized that the role of the religious order is to guide more people to understand Buddhism and break free from suffering by training AI with high-quality Buddhist information.

Ha previously led the development of Korean-language large language models and AI research at Naver, and served as the inaugural Chief of AI Future Planning under the Lee Jaemyung administration, overseeing the national AI strategy. He has advocated for a "sovereign AI" to reduce reliance on overseas platforms and the establishment of an independent AI ecosystem encompassing semiconductors, data centers, clouds, original technologies, and industrial applications.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.