OpenAI’s ChatGPT (Image courtesy of Pexels/CCL)
SEOUL, Nov. 5 (Korea Bizwire) – A recent survey has revealed that an overwhelming majority of South Korean small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have yet to embrace artificial intelligence technology, highlighting a significant digital divide in the country’s business landscape.
According to the results of a recent survey released on November 4 by the Korea Federation of SMEs (KBIZ), 94.7% of SMEs currently do not use AI in their operations. The study, conducted from September 25 to October 23 with 300 companies participating, found that only 5.3% of respondents had implemented AI technology.
The survey also revealed that just 16.3% of companies expressed interest in adopting AI technology in the future. Among the 249 companies that neither use AI nor plan to adopt it, 80.7% cited a perceived lack of necessity for their business operations.
Additionally, 14.9% reported uncertainty about AI’s potential benefits for business management, while 4.4% pointed to concerns about implementation and maintenance costs.
For companies planning to implement AI, the top target areas included defect detection and quality control through vision systems (44.7%), market expansion and marketing (37.7%), and sales data analysis and forecasting (31.3%).
The survey also explored implementation timelines, with 79% of respondents indicating they would focus on education and consulting within the next three years. Regarding budget expectations, 66% of companies anticipated spending less than 10 million won on AI implementation.
“SMEs need support to experience the efficiency gains from AI, starting with business support functions like customer service, budgeting, and marketing,” said Yang Chan-hoe, head of Innovation Growth at KBIZ.
“It’s time to seriously expand efforts to enhance SMEs’ understanding of AI technology.”
Companies identified several key barriers to AI adoption, including a lack of customized applications, limited investment capacity, and insufficient access to usable data and infrastructure.
They expressed interest in financial incentives and tax benefits, as well as tailored success stories and performance demonstrations, as potential supporting measures for AI implementation.
Kevin Lee (kevinlee@koreabizwire.com)
