It may not be immediately visible, but artificial intelligence is quietly changing Korean workplaces.

Since ChatGPT was first unveiled in late 2022, followed by an expanding array of AI tools, nearly 20 million South Koreans have downloaded five major generative AI apps as of July this year. The number of active monthly users stood at 7 million.

The Korea Herald interviewed seven individuals across a wide range of professions, including a journalist, web designer, lawyer, translator, music producer, novelist and software developer. Whether openly or discreetly, on a daily basis or less frequently, all seven use AI tools to assist with their tasks.

Some viewed AI as a mere assistant, while others expressed a troubling sense of unease, fearing that they may be hastening the AI-led transformation of their respective fields or even be replaced by it entirely.

Journalist: ‘ChatGPT helpful, but I fear it may leak my exclusive stories’

Kim Sang-jin (a pseudonym), a journalist with nine years of experience at a local media outlet, has grown highly dependent on ChatGPT. He often writes in-depth policy articles after speaking with and gaining insight from various sources, including government officials, lawmakers and lawyers.

“Now, if you’re not using it, you are a fool,” the 38-year-old said.

He shared how, on the day of this interview, AI had helped him overcome some writer's block.

“I had gathered information from sources, but it was all scattered and I couldn’t piece it into a coherent story.”

Seriously considering scrapping it all, he put his roughly scribbled notes into ChatGPT and asked it to draft the article. He was surprised by the clarity it provided. “It wasn’t perfect, but it helped me untangle the issues I had been struggling with.”

When he needs direction or guidance for article write-ups, he feels ChatGPT is often more helpful than his editors, he admitted.

Kim does have concerns, particularly when he is working on exclusive stories.

“That means ChatGPT, not my editors or readers, is the first to see the information I have obtained,” he said, expressing his fears of potential leaks and the implications for potentially sensitive content. “It's unsettling to think that there might be someone searching on AI and that I'm feeding that information into it.”

At that time of this interview, Kim was unaware of ChatGPT’s “temporary chat” feature, which allows users to start chat sessions where data is retained for only 30 days and is not used for model training. Even after learning about this option, he was unconvinced. “You can’t trust that 100 percent.”

Web designer: ‘I no longer draw’

Lee Young-eun, 52, has been a freelance web designer and illustrator for 20 years. She designs web pages and also sells her illustrations as digital resources. Recently, she has leveraged various AI tools, such as ChatGPT, Figma AI and Bing Image Generator, to streamline her work.

She used to illustrate images to sell on Adobe Stock Contribute, where paying users can download and use images they need. Now, she sells images generated with AI tools. For the AI-generated images, she still receives the standard rate.

“Since I started selling AI-generated images, I haven’t drawn anything myself. I don’t have any motivation to draw,” she said. “Creating a single image used to take me over a day, but now I can generate six or seven in under a minute.”

Lee said that her AI-generated images are of high quality and people buy more than the images she designed. It is more profitable -- but she doubts it will last. “If people realize it takes only a minute to create these images, why would they bother searching for them anymore?”

Her web design work faces similar shifts. In the past, she would handle everything from planning to text placement and image creation. Now, AI tools handle most of it. Tasks that used to require more than a day are now completed in five minutes, when using AI tools.

“Initially, I thought AI assistance would free me up for more work, but I’m increasingly dependent on it,” she said. “Even minor edits in Photoshop feel like a hassle now. While the speed has improved, I feel like I’m losing my creativity and motivation, and it’s unsettling.”

A more profound fear is that her profession is “under threat.”

“For now, management may be unaware, but as AI-savvy individuals enter executive roles, they might even stop hiring designers, assuming office staff could handle web design using AI tools.”

Translator: ‘I hope my boss never finds out’

Seo, 44, who wished to reveal only her surname, secretly uses ChatGPT for translation. She doesn’t want anyone in the office to know, especially her boss.

“I’m extremely cautious when using ChatGPT. I don’t use it when there’s someone behind me and can see my screen. I hope my team leader never finds out,” said the English-to-Korean translator who has been working at a government agency for nearly 10 years now.

She believes her profession is under great threat from AI translators, but is grateful for the stability of her employment contract as a public servant.

ChatGPT has made her work much easier and a lot less, literally.

“Nowadays, I usually don’t get any work in the office. The younger deputy directors are proficient in English, so most don’t need me to translate from English to Korean. Even for Korean-to-English translation, they often turn to ChatGPT themselves. They no longer seek me out.”

One day, a director requested a 10-page document translation.

She used ChatGPT to translate the text, and then did final edits and error-checking. The work was completed in 20 minutes, but she intentionally delayed its submission for three hours.

“When I first started working (10 years ago), I worked late on projects. As a mother of a baby, I was exhausted but felt valued and respected,” she recalled.

Now, she can’t help but feel bitter that her value has diminished. "In terms of translation quality, I won’t be able to match ChatGPT’s level, even if I study for life.”

Novelist: ‘It’s frustrating’

Cho Kyung-a, 51, made her literary debut in 2018, winning a local literature award. Now a full-time writer, Cho finds the rise of generative AI tools unsettling.

Earlier this year, she attended a meeting aimed at fostering collaboration between artists and representatives from a voice recognition AI company. The artists included painters, photographers and musicians.

“Many were visibly surprised after experiencing ChatGPT for the first time,” Cho said. “They seemed to feel that no creative field remains truly safe from AI.”

What troubled them most was the prospect of AI evolving from a creative aid into a competitor, trained on their data and potentially surpassing their skills, she said.

She feels strongly about protecting creators’ rights.

“In the US, there is a growing movement to restrict AI like ChatCPT from learning from artists’ work, but in Korea, the issue has yet to gain similar attention. It’s frustrating.”

Recently, Cho asked ChatGPT for feedback on the structure of a short synopsis she was drafting. She said she found it unhelpful.

"Honestly, I couldn’t fully engage with the AI tool because of a certain reluctance,” she reflected. “After some thought, I realized it was rooted in my unease about letting AI learn from my work.”

Lawyer: ‘Helpful, but not a threat in legal field yet’

Choi Joo-seon, a lawyer and head of the legal tech firm Nepla, acknowledges that while ChatGPT shortens her working hours, she neither fully trusts it nor sees it as a threat. For now, it serves as a mere assistant rather than a replacement.

“In the legal field, having up-to-date information is essential,” Choi said. While laws may change once or twice a year, sub-level regulations can be revised much more frequently. Unlike laws, enforcement decrees and rules don’t require parliamentary approval, making them easier to amend.

“Without regular updates, ChatGPT risks providing outdated information,” she said. “If it were updated in real time, my trust in it would improve significantly, but that isn't the case now.”

Nevertheless, she actively utilizes ChatCPT for a range of tasks, including advisory work, litigation and various legal processes, primarily for searching information.

“For areas where I’m well-versed, Google searches are more effective because I know the right keywords. But in fields I’m less familiar with, finding the correct terms can be challenging,” she said. “In those cases, ChatGPT is incredibly helpful. Lawyers aren’t experts in every field. Our knowledge is just a bit better than a non-lawyer’s. At the research stage, there’s not a vast difference between us and non-lawyers. ChatCPT is great for locating resources.”

However, she does not fully trust the outcome.

“Its responses are often partially correct, so filtering out inaccurate information takes time, making it insufficient to fully replace human expertise.”

Due to concerns about "hallucination" and information security, major law firms are developing and using their own AI tools similar to ChatGPT. "Hallucination" refers to the phenomenon where AI provides incorrect information as though it were accurate.

Another lawyer, who wished to remain anonymous, uses the tool more boldly. He relies on ChatGPT to summarize extensive documents from clients or opposing parties.

“Though there’s a typical 30-page limit, many clients or opposing parties send everything -- sometimes up to 100 pages. I feel overwhelmed even before opening them,” he said. “So, I use ChatGPT’s temporary chat function to summarize the materials by removing confidential information. It helps me understand the big picture quickly. Reading through the full set of documents is much faster after reviewing the summary.”

Music producer: ‘My expertise is not threatened’

Over a decade, Song Jeong-pill has composed around 700 pieces for commercial music. Now, he primarily creates music for TV commercials.

Since beginning to use AI tools in recent years, his productivity has significantly increased. “From a creator’s perspective, it provides greater options and leads to more satisfying results.”

When producing soundtracks, he would traditionally hire a lyricist, but this process sometimes conflicted with his desired rhythm, syllable count or stylistic direction. To resolve this, he began using ChatGPT to write English lyrics himself, which he found to be extremely beneficial.

Song also utilizes an AI tool that can alter his voice to resemble that of a singer or voice actor. “I record it myself and the AI modifies my voice,” he explained. Recently, he created an advertisement soundtrack for a large company, singing himself and using AI to adjust his voice, enabling him to control the beat and message with more precision.

He does not believe AI will threaten his job anytime soon.

When AI tools first emerged, he felt a certain apprehension.

“However, I don’t feel my expertise is threatened. AI can replace generic background music, but it doesn’t measure up in areas requiring creative direction and interpretation," he said.

“Creating music for videos involves intricate composition and arrangements that align with visual changes, cuts and flow -- something AI isn’t capable of handling yet.”

Machine learning developer: ‘Those savvy with AI will excel soon’

Machine learning developer Choi Byung-wook (a pseudonym), 29, views AI tools as a helpful coding assistant.

His firm encourages use of its own developed tool for security reasons, but also tolerates the use of ChatGPT and other tools. Choi prefers using ChatGPT because it has better performance.

For straightforward, repetitive tasks, ChatGPT excels, significantly speeding up his work. “It’s more than twice as fast.”

“For instance, if I ask it to create a program to fetch and display today’s stock price, it writes the code for me,” he said. “Before, I had to search on Google or write it myself from scratch. Now, instead of sifting through search results manually, I can ask ChatGPT, and it provides answers to most questions.”

However, for complex tasks that require multiple components, ChatGPT is less helpful, as explaining the detailed context can be challenging. Providing all the necessary background information to make ChatGPT understand is also tough, he said.

Choi said he sees it as a good assistant, but does not view it as a threat to his job.

“Rather, I think those who know how to make good use of it will succeed in the future.”