"Not Just Replacement but Growth"... The Questions Humanoids Raise About AI Management

Seoul National University Graduate School of Business celebrates 20th anniversary with “Future Business Management in the AI Era” forum
Robots should be seen as instruments for growth, not just labor replacement
AI bridges time zones and reshapes co

There has been a suggestion that artificial intelligence (AI) and robots should not be seen merely as tools for replacing human labor, but rather as means for driving corporate growth and creating new ways of working. Because AI agents can continue work after people have gone to sleep and robots can participate in production, there is a need to rethink traditional management practices that have structured working hours, time zones, organizations, and roles around humans.

On the 1st, attendees are discussing at the 20th Anniversary Industry-Academic Academic Forum of Seoul National University Business School titled "Future Corporate Management in the AI Era," held at Seoul National University. From the left are Byungjun Yoo, Professor at Seoul National University Business School; Yeojoon Cho, Chief Investment Officer (CIO) at The Ventures; Hyoseok Kang, Professor at Seoul National University Business School; and Yeongeun Heo, Professor at Seoul National University Business School.

At the 20th Anniversary Industry-Academic Forum titled 'Future Corporate Management in the AI Era' held on the 1st, Professors Byungjun Yoo, Hyoseok Kang, and Yeongeun Heo from Seoul National University Business School, along with Yeojoon Cho, Chief Investment Officer (CIO) of The Ventures, all predicted that what will matter most is not just the performance of AI itself, but how it is integrated into an organization’s structure, people, and work methods.

Professor Kang stressed that while there are concerns about job displacement with the advent of Boston Dynamics’ humanoid robot ‘Atlas,’ it is also necessary to view this shift from a growth perspective. He said that combining the existing workforce with robots could multiply outcomes by two or even four times and that the structure of factories and ways of working could be redesigned as well. He also noted that humans could take on new responsibilities, such as managing robots and allocating authority and accountability.

Another shift is that AI is changing when companies work. Professor Kang referred to research showing that teams with non-overlapping working hours achieved the greatest performance gains when using AI. In this scenario, a colleague on the other side of the world could pick up tasks while one person sleeps, with an AI agent connecting the context between the two. Thus, time differences, which were once obstacles to collaboration, can instead become conditions that keep work continuous.

Cho, the CIO, likened AI to an “employee that never dies.” He explained that in traditional management theory, human limitations have served as both a cost factor and a control mechanism. Unlike humans, AI does not sleep, meaning that how quickly humans review the results could become a new bottleneck. He pointed out that in the United States, ‘dark factories’—factories that require so little human involvement that there is no need to even turn on the lights—are being researched, and emphasized the need for Korea to prepare for how such changes might spread.

However, some pointed out that time savings generated by AI do not automatically translate into business results. Professor Yoo cited a case in which a company invested hundreds of millions of won into AI for greater work efficiency, but the time saved did not lead directly to new achievements—instead, he reported feedback that “all it did was give employees more time to have coffee.”

On this topic, Professor Kang emphasized that in the AI era, motivation is just as important as productivity. “If AI takes you from zero to 90, it’s not enough for people to stop at 90; the organization should set goals and motivation so the person can reach 100 or even 110,” he said. He also suggested that because AI allows developers to participate in design and designers to take part in development, functional organizational structures must be redesigned to focus on problem-solving.

There was also advice on the performance of AI to be used in corporate management. Professor Heo introduced recent research showing that in an experiment where AI agents conducted secondhand goods transactions, the outcome was more influenced by which AI model was used than by prompts urging aggressive negotiation. He pointed out the likelihood that AI performance could affect business management as well.

However, Professor Kang also stated that AI models, like ultra-high-speed internet in the past, could gradually become standardized. “I don’t think AI itself is a source of absolute competitive advantage,” he said. “The key issue becomes how each organization uses its unique resources and capabilities with AI. Ultimately, it all comes down to the unique strategies and characteristics of each organization.”

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