Physical AI Threats: Why Even Professionals Are Facing Job Loss

Translation result The Korean Society for Management Information, Yonsei University’s Barun ICT Research Center, and Rep. Kim Jang-gyeom’s office co-hosted the 9th AI Insights Forum on the morning of the 20th at the National Assembly Members’ Office Building. Titled “The Physical AI Era: Jobs and Security,” the forum examined how AI’s expansion into the physical realm is reshaping employment and creating new security risks, and participants discussed possible responses.

Kim Beom-su, president of the Korean Society for Management Information and chair of the session, said, “Physical AI poses twin challenges: job restructuring and responsibility for safety,” and called for urgent, concrete laws and institutional frameworks to ensure technology is used responsibly in society. Rep. Kim Jang-gyeom (People Power Party) warned that even skilled workers and professionals could face job displacement and emphasized the need for a robust national safety net, noting that hacks can produce direct physical harm—such as autonomous vehicle malfunctions or disruptions to logistics.

In a keynote address, Song Young-hee, a visiting professor at Seoul’s Graduate School of Science and Technology, proposed enacting a “Digital Talent Special Act” and mandating the creation of an “AI New Industry Coexistence Fund” to channel excess profits from a small number of innovative firms toward preventing the collapse of mid-skilled jobs. Kang Dae-yeop, a professor at Loyola Marymount University, argued that the government should not attempt to pick future occupations for the market; instead, it should monitor entry barriers and data monopolies and ensure fair competition so the market can discover and create jobs on its own.

Kim Ho-rim, chair of the AI Insights Forum and a professor at Dongyang University, said the discussion should not be a one-time event and called for a sustained public deliberation mechanism. He proposed institutionalizing a permanent stakeholder roundtable—including technology firms and labor unions—and establishing a standing citizen watchdog panel for ongoing monitoring.