Artificial intelligence and robots in South Korea is becoming part of everyday life. Families are using AI to recreate deceased loved ones, robot baristas are serving coffee without human staff, semiconductor engineers have become some of the country’s most sought-after professionals, and students are reshaping their career choices around AI. At the same time, Seoul is pouring trillions of won into chips, robotics and AI infrastructure in a bid to become a global leader.
Here’s how AI is reshaping entire society
Helping families hear voices of lost loved ones againOne of AI’s most emotional uses in South Korea is helping families reconnect with loved ones who have passed away. Startups such as Seoul-based Vaice create lifelike videos of deceased parents and grandparents using just a handful of photographs and short voice recordings, reported Associated Press. Customers usually write personalised scripts, with the AI avatar delivering messages of love, apology or encouragement during family gatherings and memorial ceremonies.The service has found a growing audience, particularly among people in their 40s and 50s who want to preserve memories of their parents or surprise family members with messages from relatives they deeply miss. A basic three-to-five-minute video costs around 600,000 won (about $390).One customer, Lee Geon Hui, commissioned an AI video of his grandfather—who died before Lee was born—as a gift for his father. The digital recreation apologised for past regrets and told his son he was proud of him, leaving Lee’s father in tears.While many users describe the experience as comforting, experts say the technology sits at the intersection of memory, grief and ethics. “It’s a double-edged sword, as it deals with human emotions,” said Yong Man Ro of the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, warning that AI is creating experiences society has never encountered before.AI boom redefining careers and even the marriage marketThe global AI race has transformed semiconductor employees into some of South Korea’s most desirable professionals. Workers at Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, whose advanced memory chips power AI systems worldwide, are increasingly being viewed on par with doctors and lawyers, thanks to soaring salaries, generous bonuses and strong job security.Matchmaking agencies say the industry’s social status has changed dramatically in just a few years. “If SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics employees used to be classified as B+ or A-grade candidates, today they are closer to A+,” said Son Dong-gyu, CEO of matchmaking agency Bien Aller, as quoted by Reuters.The shift is also influencing education. Universities are reporting record demand for semiconductor engineering programmes, while vocational high schools that feed graduates directly into chip factories have become increasingly popular. Career consultants say competition for AI-related jobs now resembles South Korea’s notoriously competitive university entrance race.Students cited stability as a major attraction amid rising youth unemployment. “Compared with my friends, I feel relatively secure about employment prospects,” said Korea University semiconductor student Koo Bon-ho.Robot baristas and unstaffed shops part of daily lifeThere are several South Korea cafés without baristas, ramen restaurants without chefs, flower shops without cashiers and convenience stores with no staff at all.Thousands of unmanned businesses have emerged as owners turn to robotics, AI-powered ordering systems and self-service technology to cope with labour shortages and rising wage costs, as reported by Reuters. Lounge X, for example, operates cafés where a robotic arm prepares coffee around the clock, requiring only a brief daily visit from a human worker to replenish supplies and clean the premises.Business owners say the model works because South Korea has relatively low levels of petty crime and customers generally follow the rules.The economics are compelling as well. According to Lounge X, conventional cafés typically generate operating margins of around 10 to 15 per cent, while robot-operated outlets can exceed 40 per cent due to sharply lower labour costs.“The population of baristas in their early twenties is drastically declining,” said Lounge X CEO Kim Dongjin, pointing to demographic pressures that are making automation increasingly necessary.Answer to ageing population?Behind many of these AI-driven changes lies a deeper demographic challenge. South Korea has one of the world’s lowest birth rates and one of its fastest-ageing populations, creating severe labour shortages across industries.Government projections show the country’s population could shrink from 51.8 million today to around 36.2 million by 2072, making automation increasingly important to sustaining economic growth.For many business owners, AI and robotics are no longer optional upgrades but practical solutions. Operators of unmanned restaurants say automation allows them to run businesses while balancing childcare or other responsibilities, without the need to recruit increasingly scarce workers.Customers are adapting quickly as well. Some say they even prefer the quiet atmosphere of staff-free shops, viewing occasional technical glitches as a reasonable trade-off for convenience and 24-hour access.National economic strategyArtificial intelligence is now central to South Korea’s long-term economic planning. The government recently unveiled three major AI initiatives covering semiconductors, physical AI and AI data centres, backed by some of the country’s largest corporations.Samsung Electronics announced plans for hundreds of trillions of won in semiconductor investments, while SK Group outlined massive long-term spending on chip production and AI infrastructure. Meanwhile, SK, Naver and GS Group plan to jointly develop AI data centres capable of supporting the country’s next generation of computing needs.Beyond infrastructure, Seoul also wants to nurture talent, announcing plans to train 10,000 AI robotics specialists over five years while supporting the development of Korean AI foundation models and expanding robotics manufacturing.The goal is not simply to adopt AI technologies but to position South Korea as one of the world’s leading AI powers.Humanoid robot revolutionSouth Korea’s AI ambitions extend well beyond software. The government aims to become one of the world’s top three AI robotics powers by 2030, with plans to commercialise humanoid robots tailored to major industries. According to Goldman Sachs Research, the country already has several structural advantages. Its globally competitive automotive supply chain produces electric motors, sensors and precision components that closely resemble the actuators needed for humanoid robots. Korean companies have also become major suppliers of robot hardware outside China.It estimated Korean firms could account for around 30 per cent of global humanoid production by 2035, either through manufacturing robots or supplying critical components.The report also highlights South Korea’s status as the world’s most robot-intensive manufacturing economy and its strong culture of early technology adoption, both of which could accelerate deployment.The biggest challenge: DataDespite rapid advances, experts say humanoid robots still struggle with basic real-world reasoning because they lack sufficient physical training data.Goldman Sachs identifies this shortage of real-world experience as the industry’s biggest bottleneck, noting that robots improve only by interacting with their environments. China currently holds an advantage because it already has 10,000–15,000 humanoid robots deployed, compared with only hundreds in the US and South Korea.“The bottleneck remains the scarcity of physical AI training data,” analyst Do Hyoung Kim wrote, arguing that wider deployment will create a self-reinforcing cycle in which more robots generate more data, leading to smarter robots.From temples to fashion runways, humanoid robots finding new rolesHumanoid robots are beginning to appear in spaces once considered exclusively human, from places of worship to cultural events. In a first for South Korea, a 130-cm-tall humanoid named Gabi participated in a Buddhist precept ceremony at Seoul’s Jogyesa Temple ahead of Buddha’s Birthday last month. Dressed in traditional robes, the robot bowed before monks and nuns and responded, “Yes, I will devote myself,” when asked if it would commit to the teachings of Buddha. The ceremony marked the country’s first instance of a non-human formally taking part in the ritual.Then, humanoid robots shared the runway with human models at a Seoul fashion show in late May, wearing custom-made outfits ranging from cowboy-inspired ensembles to futuristic designs. Organisers said the event explored how humans and robots could coexist, arguing that robots, like people, should have their own identities. The appearances reflect a broader shift in South Korea, where humanoid robots are increasingly being showcased not only as industrial machines but as participants in religion, culture and entertainment.
