Basic Society: Public Chooses "Services" Over "Money"... Funding from "AI Profits"

Basic Society Committee Releases Results of Citizen Deliberation Forum
Concerns Over Jobs and Income Inequality Grow... Businesses and Society to Share Responsibility
Use a Fund for a Long-Term Response... Funding from AI-Generated Benefits

The citizen deliberation group recruited by the government said that, in response to the social changes brought about by the transition to artificial intelligence (AI), basic services such as healthcare, housing, education, and care should be guaranteed. Members agreed that some of the benefits generated by AI should be used to fund these basic services.

Members of the Citizens' Deliberation Group take part in breakout discussions at a forum on "Public Deliberation on a Basic Society Amid the AI Transition," hosted by the Presidential Committee on Basic Society. Photo courtesy of the committee.

The Presidential Committee on Basic Society announced on the afternoon of the 14th the results of a citizen deliberation group forum held at the Government Complex Seoul under the theme “Public Deliberation on a Basic Society amid the AI Transition.”

The 223 members of the citizen deliberation group were randomly selected from residents aged 15 and older nationwide, taking into account the population distribution by gender, age, and region. Half of the group consisted of adolescents and young adults aged 15 to 34, who are expected to experience the AI transition over an extended period.

At the forum, participants shared their hopes and concerns as society faces major transformations, including the AI transition and demographic change, and discussed the vision for a basic society, policy priorities in each area, and ways to secure and reinvest funding. After listening to presentations by experts, they exchanged a range of views and deliberated through small-group discussions and a plenary session.

As a result, 95% of the group viewed expanding the use of AI across society positively, while 98% said an urgent social response to the AI transition was needed. In particular, participants tended to view AI-related concerns primarily as issues of “jobs and income inequality.” After deliberation, the share concerned that the spread of AI would reduce young people’s employment opportunities rose from 86% to 95%.

Participants also expected that the economic benefits generated by AI would likely become concentrated among a small number of large corporations and platform companies, with the share expressing this view increasing from 85% to 90%. The share who said AI could exacerbate income inequality also rose from 80% to 86%.

Regarding employment risks associated with the spread of AI, 78% agreed that businesses and society should share responsibility. In particular, 93% agreed that businesses should take greater responsibility for supporting retraining and job transitions in response to changes in employment.

When asked what mattered most in a basic society, a greater share selected “guaranteeing basic services such as healthcare, housing, education, and care” (60%) than “basic income” (42%).

Participants expected that expanding basic-society policies would ▲help people take on new challenges, such as retraining, changing jobs, and starting businesses (93%); ▲enable them to maintain a basic standard of living even if their jobs became unstable (91%); and ▲help reduce gaps in welfare coverage, income, and opportunity (87%).

However, they identified “securing sustainable funding” (48%) as the most important condition for realizing a basic society. Many also expressed concern about a heavier tax burden on the public (90%) and political use of the fund or investment losses (80%).

In this regard, more than 80% of the group said that some of the profits businesses generate through AI or the benefits of economic activity should be returned to society and used to fund public services.

A view of the venue for the deliberative forum.

After deliberation, support rose from 46% to 61% for using AI-related funds to expand basic services such as education, healthcare, and care, and retaining the funds as a shared asset rather than spending them immediately, so they can be used to respond to future crises and support long-term investment. Regarding the government’s planned Future Response Fund, participants increasingly viewed it not as a reserve for short-term economic stabilization, but as an investment resource to build future productivity and a foundation for growth.

The Presidential Committee on Basic Society plans to submit the survey results and other findings to the Policy Agenda Planning Group, comprising 22 members of the citizen deliberation group and 22 experts, for development into policy proposals.

Experts participating in the Policy Agenda Planning Group will hold two workshops, on October 18 and 31, to review the future vision proposed by the citizen deliberation group and the results of its small-group discussions, and connect them with policy goals, target groups, and policy tools to develop and define feasible policies.

Kang Nam-hoon, Vice Chair of the Presidential Committee on Basic Society, said, “The citizen deliberation group accepted AI as an unavoidable change, while sending a clear message that society should share the risks it poses to jobs and income rather than leaving individuals to bear them alone.”

He added, “We will take seriously the public’s judgment that, beyond sharing resources today, we should build shared assets for our children and future generations, and make the group’s views the guiding principle as we develop future policies for a basic society.”

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