Redefine

May 29 (Asia Today) — SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won said generalist talent will become more important in the artificial intelligence era as workers need to develop abilities that remain uniquely human.

Chey, who also serves as chairman of the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said South Korea should accelerate the expansion of AI infrastructure based on speed, scale and safety.

SK Group said Friday that Chey appeared Thursday on KBS1’s “Documentary Insight – Talent War 2: Chey Tae-won’s Answer,” where he discussed what people should learn and what abilities they should develop as AI advances faster than humans.

“I wanted to share the perspective I have gained by speaking directly with many people in the AI industry and working with them in business,” Chey said.

Chey said the world is now moving through the era of “reasoning AI,” in which AI responds to human questions, and will enter the era of “agentic AI,” in which AI can make decisions and act on its own.

“In this period, the gap in ability between people who actively use AI and those who do not could become much wider than it is now,” Chey said. “The same polarization could deepen among individuals, companies and countries depending on how quickly and effectively they use AI.”

Over the longer term, however, Chey said the rise of artificial general intelligence could narrow gaps in knowledge and productivity among people.

He said that if two people now have ability levels of 10 and 100, their gap is 10 times. But in an AGI era, if everyone receives a baseline AI-powered ability of 1,000, those levels could become 1,010 and 1,100, sharply reducing the relative gap.

“In the future, what matters more than what job a person has will be how that person can use and connect humans and AI together,” Chey said.

He said generalists who can move across different fields and design new systems and societies where humans and AI coexist will become more important than specialists who deeply understand only one field.

Chey also said AI could perform a large share of work tasks, making it possible for people to take on multiple roles and jobs at the same time. He said the conventional “9 to 6” work structure and fixed ideas about occupations could gradually change.

Chey presented four core “muscles” that individuals should build in the AI era: a thinking muscle to ask fundamental questions, an adaptation muscle to respond to rapid change, an empathy muscle that reflects uniquely human compassion and “body skills” that create value through physical activity such as music, art and sports.

“The ability to quickly acquire knowledge and do well on tests will be replaced in large part by AI,” Chey said. “It is important to build the areas that only humans can do.”

Chey also presented a national strategy, saying South Korea needs “3S” — speed, scale and safety — to become a competitive “AI nation.”

He said South Korea should speed up technological development, expand large-scale AI infrastructure and investment and build an institutional foundation that allows citizens to use AI safely.

“AI talent does not simply mean engineering talent,” Chey said. “Education and social systems must also change quickly so future generations can naturally use AI and coexist with it.”

— Reported by Asia Today; translated by UPI

© Asia Today. Unauthorized reproduction or redistribution prohibited.

Original Korean report: https://www.asiatoday.co.kr/kn/view.php?key=20260529010008715

Paris seeks to repair economic and security ties while countering rising anti-French sentiment across Africa.

French President Emmanuel Macron has started a tour of East Africa as Paris seeks to rebuild its influence on the continent after a series of setbacks, especially in its former West African colonies.

Macron began the three-country tour in Egypt on Saturday, which will also take him to Kenya and Ethiopia.

He will cohost a summit in English-speaking Kenya on Monday and Tuesday as France seeks to redefine its role in Africa, moving away from its postcolonial role towards closer cooperation.

The summit will bring together African leaders and business executives, with several agreements between French and Kenyan companies set to be signed during the visit to boost economic and commercial cooperation.

The “Africa Forward” summit will be the first in an Anglophone country attended by Macron since he took office in 2017.

The French president will wrap up his tour in Addis Ababa on Wednesday, where he will hold meetings with Ethiopian officials and take part in talks at the African Union headquarters on peace and security in Africa.

The tour is widely seen as a bid by Paris to repair economic and security ties and counter rising anti-French sentiment across parts of Africa.

Africa’s changing balance

France colonised large parts of West and Central Africa, and maintained excessive political and economic influence long after independence.

France, once widely accused of supporting unpopular leaders for strategic gain, is no longer the dominant foreign power it once was in Francophone Africa.

Across the continent, there is a growing push for more equal, win-win partnerships, tighter control over natural resources and broader alliances beyond traditional Western partners.

Sahel turning point

Anti-French sentiment has generally grown alongside political instability, military coups and rising competition from other international powers.

The sharpest rupture has come in the Sahel region, where Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger have seen coups followed by rapidly deteriorating relations with France.

French forces were subsequently expelled after years of military operations against armed groups that many local governments and segments of the public viewed as ineffective.

In the vacuum, the region’s military rulers have turned to new security partners, particularly Russia, highlighting France’s declining influence in the region.

Russian influence, including through the Wagner Group and its successor networks, expanded in part by exploiting anti-French sentiment.

Can Macron succeed in reshaping France’s Africa policy?

Macron is seeking to reshape France’s Africa policy, replacing traditional influence with what he calls partnerships.

He is also pushing for deeper cultural and educational cooperation focused on entrepreneurship, climate and youth engagement.

Such efforts are seen as France’s attempt to reinvent its postcolonial relationship with African states and compete with powers like China and Russia.

Paris is, in fact, trying to shift its Africa policy; questions over its influence on the continent, however, persist.