Ju An Jang

junior editor, GSIS Newsletter

In South Korea, artificial intelligence is no longer an emerging trend—it is already an integral part of everyday student life. Whether in the classroom or during late-night study sessions, university students are integrating AI tools into every stage of their academic work.

As one of the world’s most digitally advanced countries, South Korea offers a clear example of how AI is influencing student workflows. The real change lies not simply in the variety of tools available, but in how students use them. Rather than relying on a single platform, many students build task-specific systems where each tool has a particular function. This approach represents a clear step forward from convenience to a more strategic use of AI.

Ideation & Planning

• ChatGPT — Used to generate ideas, explore arguments, and expand perspectives.
• Gemini — Shapes those ideas into structured plans and outlines.

Research & Study

• Perplexity AI — Provides concise answers with verifiable sources, making it particularly useful for academic research.
• NotebookLM — Assists in analyzing readings and summarizing large documents.

Writing & Summarization

• Claude — Practical for long-form writing, thanks to its ability to maintain coherence and academic tone.
• Lilys AI — Extracts key insights from long video content, such as recorded lectures.

Notes & Productivity

• CLOVA Note — Widely used to record, transcribe, and summarize lectures, reducing the need of manual note-taking.
• Daglo — Facilitates the transcription of meetings and discussions, helping students to better organize spoken information.

Translation

• Papago — A widely used tool for accurate Korean–English translation, especially in academic contexts.

Creative & Design

• Midjourney — Generates visuals for presentations and projects.
• Gamma AI — Converts written content into structured presentation slides.
• Napkin AI — Transforms ideas into visual diagrams and concept maps.

Media & Content Creation

• Veo3 — Enables AI-generated video content.
• Heygen — Produces AI avatars and voiceovers.
• Suno AI — Creates original audio content.
• Sora — Represents the next frontier of AI video generation.

What emerges is not just a list of tools, but a shift in approach. Students are no longer asking “Which AI tool should I use?” but rather “Which tool is best for this task?”

In South Korea, where digital technology is widely used and academic competition is intense, AI is increasingly treated as a strategic toolkit. The most effective students are not those who rely on a single platform, but those who combine tools deliberately—turning AI into a structured, efficient, and highly personalized system for learning.