An informative image indicating Seoul residents' artificial intelligence readiness / Courtesy of Seoul Metropolitan Government

Four in 10 Seoul residents have used a generative artificial intelligence (AI) tool, nearly triple the share recorded two years ago, but a sharp divide between younger and older users persists, according to a survey released Monday by the Seoul AI Foundation.

The foundation's 2025 Seoul Citizens' Digital Competency Survey — conducted biennially since 2021 — polled 5,500 residents aged 19 and older, including 2,500 aged 55 and above, through in-person household interviews.

Overall digital competency improved across all five measured areas — device use, service use, information literacy, ethics and safety — compared to 2023. The largest gain came in digital information literacy, which rose 3.8 points to 57.6, while digital safety climbed 2.1 points to 51.7.

Older residents showed improvement as well, although their scores remained at roughly 64 percent of the overall average in device and service use, indicating a persistent gap.

Generative AI use rose sharply, with 43.2 percent of residents reporting experience with the technology, up from 15.4 percent in 2023. Among those under 55, the figure reached 63.9 percent, compared with 12.2 percent for older residents.

The most common use was information search, cited by 92.2 percent of generative AI users, followed by casual conversation at 65.2 percent — a category that surged 42.9 percentage points from 2023, suggesting the technology is moving beyond search into everyday interaction.

When asked whether they felt prepared for the AI era, 46.8 percent said yes. The gap by age was stark: 65.0 percent of those under 55 said they felt ready, against just 19.6 percent of older respondents. Concerns about AI were also more pronounced among older residents, with 30.1 percent expressing significant worry, compared to 9.3 percent of those under 55.

The survey also introduced an AI literacy index across four dimensions — understanding, application, evaluation and ethics — scored out of 100. Critical evaluation of AI outputs scored lowest at 68.7, which the foundation flagged as an area requiring targeted education, given rising concerns about deepfakes and misinformation.

Digital kiosks have become a near-universal fixture in Seoul, with usage climbing to nearly 88 percent of the population. While adoption among older residents has surged to 71.7 percent — up from 57.1 percent in 2023 — the transition remains fraught. Nearly two-thirds of that demographic reported significant difficulty navigating the interfaces, citing a confusing array of menu options and the mounting social pressure of queues forming behind them.

Source: Korea Times News