Template-type: ReDIF-Paper 1.0


Author-Name: Wonshik Kim
Author-Workplace-Name: Emeritus Professor, Konkuk University; Visiting Professor, International Center for Public Policy, Georgia State University

Title: AI Revolution Leading to a Welfare Revolution

Abstract: South Korea is entering a super-aged society amid rapid demographic change, declining fertility, and escalating fiscal pressure on welfare systems. Despite sustained expansion of welfare expenditures, public satisfaction has stagnated while national debt continues to rise. This article argues that recent advances in artificial intelligence-particularly Physical AI- create a structural opportunity to transform welfare from income-centered redistribution to individualized, service-based systems that directly increase flourishing while reducing ill-being. By overviewing demographic trends, labor-market distortions, and institutional constraints, the paper shows how AI-driven welfare reform can simultaneously address aging-related service bottlenecks and revitalize economic productivity. I conclude by identifying the institutional conditions required to convert the AI revolution into a genuine welfare revolution.

Length: 11 pages

Creation-Date: 2026-06

File-URL: http://ayspsrd.gsu.edu/ays/ispwps/paper2624.pdf
File-Format: application/pdf

Handle: RePEc:ays:ispwps:paper2624