South Korea turns master workers’ know-how into AI data

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Trade, Industry and Resources Minister Kim Jung-kwan addresses the first general congress of the Manufacturing AX Alliance at the headquarters of the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Seoul, South Korea. The government-led alliance groups businesses and organizations working for the artificial intelligence transformation of manufacturing industries. Photo by YONHAP / EPA

June 12 (Asia Today) — South Korea’s Trade Ministry is accelerating a project to convert master workers’ tacit manufacturing knowledge into artificial intelligence data as the country seeks to preserve industrial skills threatened by aging and labor shortages.

Tacit knowledge refers to experience and know-how that skilled workers often use without writing it down. In manufacturing, it can include judgment used in process optimization, quality control, welding, equipment checks and other work that depends on years of experience.

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy held the fourth M.AX conference Friday at the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry in central Seoul. The conference focused on development and cooperation strategies for using master workers’ tacit knowledge in manufacturing AI transformation.

Officials and experts discussed how to build AI systems that can capture knowledge from industrial sites and how labor and management can cooperate in the process.

The ministry said skilled manufacturing experience is becoming a core asset in the AI era. Officials warned that if the know-how of retiring workers is lost, companies could face weaker process control, lower quality management and reduced manufacturing competitiveness.

The government is using 48 billion won, or about $31.2 million, from this year’s supplementary budget to support pilot projects for 30 manufacturing processes. The projects will build tacit knowledge datasets and develop AI models.

The ministry plans to prioritize processes with high safety risks or severe labor shortages. AI models developed…

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