SK's Chey urges schools to prioritise experimentation and AI problem-solving

SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won urged young people to build practical problem-solving skills and said schools should become places where students experiment with artificial intelligence. Speaking in EBS's Great Minds lecture series, he argued that experience tackling real problems would matter more than a university diploma. Yonhap reported on October 18, citing SK, that the lectures were broadcast from October 12 to 16 under a theme covering AI, new capitalism and young people. Chey was the first Korean businessperson to appear on the programme, according to Yonhap. [ 3 , 5 , 6 ]

Chey said defining problems, asking questions, thinking, empathising and being willing to fail would become more important. He encouraged students to use AI to make something and develop their own ways of solving problems, rather than simply following what they were taught. Newsis reported his view that students who had confronted organisational problems during university would become more capable employees. Maeil Business also reported his qualification that he was not telling people to stop studying: academic achievement remained important, but could not by itself guarantee success. [ 3 , 4 , 6 ]

He also predicted that AI could change the idea of a job based on fixed hours at one company and give individuals more choice over projects and employers. However, Asia Economy and Korea Economic Daily reported his warning that overly rapid change could produce mass layoffs. He called for experimentation that allowed businesses and society time to adapt. Asked what he would do if he were young again, Chey said he would start a business addressing difficult social problems. Yonhap reported his advice to begin with small, manageable problems and build experience toward larger solutions. [ 2 , 5 , 6 ]