[StartupRecipe] 85% of Korean Students Use AI, Few Know AI Startups

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85% of Korean Students Use AI, Few Know AI Startups

A recent survey examining AI awareness and usage among South Korean university students revealed that 85% of students regularly use AI in their daily lives, though their familiarity with AI startups remains surprisingly low. Startup Recipe collaborated with the 10th cohort of Ewha Womans University’s startup journalism team to conduct this comprehensive study, administering 26 in-depth questions to assess students’ AI perception and usage patterns before publishing their findings in a detailed report. The report focused on understanding how university students currently utilize AI, their perceptions of the technology, their awareness of government AI policies, and their attitudes toward careers in AI startups.

The survey found that 43.5% of respondents use AI services daily, while 85% engage with AI at least twice weekly, with zero respondents reporting that they rarely use AI. In terms of specific platforms, students showed a clear preference for text-based generative AI, with ChatGPT leading usage at 35.1%, followed by Google Gemini at 27.8% and Perplexity at 12.9%. Students have integrated AI into their academic routines as a practical supplementary tool, primarily using it for assignments and report writing at 28.6% and for translation and summarization tasks at 27.6%.

Demonstrating that students view AI as a valuable paid product, 65.2% of respondents expressed willingness to pay for services based on their perceived value. When asked about the most critical capability needed for the AI era, students selected critical thinking, specifically the human ability to judge and verify AI-generated information. This priority aligns with their primary concern about AI usage, as 36.3% identified information reliability as their biggest worry, indicating students maintain a discerning perspective on the quality of AI outputs. Students also demonstrated awareness of the complex societal risks accompanying technological advancement, including job displacement at 24.2%, privacy violations, and diminished learning capabilities. Reflecting this concern, 88.45% of university students agreed on the necessity of university-level AI education, calling for professional guidelines to navigate these challenges.

However, the survey exposed a significant gap in students’ awareness of government initiatives, with 34.9% of respondents stating they knew of no AI-related government policies, suggesting low tangible impact of new industry policies. When identifying key priorities for developing Korea’s AI industry, students ranked professional talent development first at 24.4% and increased government investment second at 23.3%, while startup and entrepreneurship support garnered only 8%. This disconnect extended to awareness of AI startups themselves, with 55% reporting they had never heard of AI startups, though among male respondents, six out of ten claimed familiarity with such companies, mentioning names like Wrtn, ScatterLab, Upstage, and Elice.

Regarding employment or entrepreneurship in the AI sector, negative responses at 49.3% significantly outnumbered positive ones, though male respondents showed notably higher interest with 56.2% expressing positive attitudes toward AI careers, surpassing the overall respondent average. Despite high interest in AI technology itself, students recorded relatively lower interest in startup employment, internships, and AI entrepreneurship, with differences in receptivity varying by gender and major. The predominant attitude was one of caution or reservation, with 30.4% selecting neutral responses, suggesting that while students acknowledge the importance of AI, they remain hesitant or reserved about translating this into actual career paths.

Looking forward, 92.8% of respondents predicted that AI would exert overwhelming influence on society within the next three years, viewing it as an essential element of the future. Students ranked education and learning as their top anticipated application area at 34.8%, expecting practical changes closely aligned with their own lives. While students demonstrated high technical confidence in healthcare and medical applications at 20.3% and transportation at 15.9%, their expectations for AI in creative fields and environmental sectors remained comparatively lower.

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