The number of people who say they have used generative AI has passed four in ten. In the 2025 Survey on Internet Use released by the Ministry of Science and ICT on March 31, the share of people who have used a generative AI service came to 44.5%. That is up 11.2 percentage points from 33.3% the previous year. The survey covered 22,671 households nationwide and 50,750 household members aged 3 and older.
The figures stand out in the breakdown by occupation more than in the average. Among office workers the rate was 71.9%, the highest of all occupational groups. That means seven in ten have handled the tool, and it reads as a sign that AI has entered the work of handling documents in the office. The way the question was defined does not separate whether these answers refer to use during work hours or also include personal use after hours.
Some people are now paying. Among all respondents, 7.9% hold a paid subscription, and within that ChatGPT accounted for the largest share at 7.3%. The subscription rate among professionals and managers was 20.6%, the highest of the occupational groups. By service used, ChatGPT came to 41.8%, Gemini 9.8%, Copilot 2.2% and CLOVA X 2.0%.
The gap between generations widened further. Among people in their 20s the rate was 75.3%, while among those 70 and older it stopped at 4.9%. Asked why they do not use it, 49.5% answered "no interest or no need," and among those in their 60s and those 70 and older the answer "I don't know how to use it" was relatively common. Even for the same non-use, choice and a barrier to entry are different matters.
AI also turns up throughout daily life. The share of people who have used AI services in everyday areas such as home convenience, transport and education more than doubled, from 32.4% in 2021 to 67.0% in 2025. The area encountered most was home convenience, including housework robots and IoT appliances, at 35.9%. The internet use rate among people aged 3 and older was 95.0% and the household internet access rate was 99.98%, effectively saturation.
Compared with the spread, trust is following slowly. While 66.8% answered that AI services from government and business have a positive effect on society as a whole, 54.7% answered that they trust the output, and 57% saw it as fair and free of discrimination. It is a state of using it without fully believing the results, which means users are shouldering the burden of checking for themselves.
Conditions on the corporate side are not as settled as on the user side. An OpenText survey reports that 52% of companies are using generative AI while the setting up of security and internal management systems lags behind. The sample and subjects of that survey were not disclosed, so it is hard to compare directly with the figures from the survey of individuals. Nor have separate statistics been released showing how many Korean companies have usage guidelines.
Hong Sung-wan, director general for information and communications policy at the Ministry of Science and ICT, said the ministry will continue policies to create an environment where AI can be used with trust. Detailed results can be viewed on the websites of the Ministry of Science and ICT and the National Information Society Agency. The response rate of 71.9% among office workers shows that the time for discussing whether to adopt it has passed. While the meeting room asks "should we use AI," the colleague sitting alongside is taking a draft and editing it.