ETRI: "AI Development Utilizing Blockchain is Necessary"

There was an opinion presented that AI development utilizing blockchain in Korea could become a key factor in the upcoming shift toward a digital economy.

Choi Sun-mi, Senior Researcher at the Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI), attended the '2025 ABLE Regular Meeting' held at Rendezvous Hall in Seoul Dragon City on the 9th (Korean time), and suggested, "Currently in Korea, the share of the goods market in the real economy is significantly higher than that of the service market," adding, "It is time to consider digital transformation to offset the deficit in the service sector."

She particularly highlighted the potential of combining AI and blockchain. Researcher Choi explained, "Traditional AI development has required enormous capital investment, making a national-level approach necessary. However, with the advent of DeepSeek, it has become clear that data is more important than foundation models, so the AI market is now essentially a stage of unlimited competition." She continued, "Blockchain is crucial as the core infrastructure that can securely store, share, and tokenize data."

Furthermore, Researcher Choi cited on-chain AI agents as an example of utilizing blockchain and AI. She said, "Autonomous AI agents operating on blockchain automatically perform functions such as payments, asset management, and decision-making, creating a new digital commerce environment," and added, "The combination of these technologies will determine the direction of the future digital economy."