President Lee Jae Myung (third from left) on Aug. 25 chairs a Cabinet meeting at Cheong Wa Dae in Seoul on a proposed strategy to build the world's top artificial intelligence-based democratic government. (Cheong Wa Dae)

By Uyen Nguyen

A proposed initiative on a democratic government powered by artificial intelligence (AI) seeks to expand essential public services like 24-hour AI consultations and launch a personalized AI public assistant.

The Ministry of the Interior and Safety on Aug. 25 said this in releasing a strategy for building the world's best AI-driven democratic government at a Cabinet meeting chaired by President Lee Jae Myung at Cheong Wa Dae in Seoul.

The forthcoming 24-hour AI consultation system will cover five key areas: welfare, public safety, taxes, agriculture, and food and drug safety. Anyone can receive AI-based advice on care services, tax payments, infectious disease symptoms and prevention, and dietary information.

The personal AI assistant will link major government services such as the online portal Government 24 and its benefit notification service to provide personalized attention customized for individual needs.

In disaster management, safety information will be centralized through the Safe Korea platform in 22 languages. AI will analyze disaster situations to proactively issue weather and hazard alerts.

On-AI, a high-tech service that supports tasks such as reviewing laws and regulations and drafting reports, will be launched by December at 47 central government agencies. Training is also slated for 20,000 staff to develop and apply AI services.

Minister of the Interior and Safety Yun Ho Jung said, "The core of an AI-powered democratic government is not simply adopting AI, but using it to achieve popular sovereignty, as in ensuring that the people are the true head of national governance."

uyen81@korea.kr