The Essence of AI Evolution Lies Not in 'Performance' but in 'Usage'

Published: 2025-08-08

While AI evolution like GPT-5 is remarkable, what truly matters is not the technology itself but how we utilize it. This article deeply examines humanity's role and future direction by exploring historical and contemporary examples.

The Essence of AI Evolution Lies Not in ‘Performance’ but in ‘Usage’

In 2025, AI is advancing at an astonishing speed.
GPT-5 surpasses humans in many fields with its accuracy, natural language generation, and complex reasoning capabilities.

However, let’s pause and reflect for a moment.
What meaning would this evolution hold if no one uses this technology appropriately?


Technology Alone Creates No Value Without Effective Usage

Owning a high-end kitchen knife is worthless if you never cook.
Possessing a sports car is dangerous if you don’t know where to go or how to drive it.

The same applies to AI.
Even if model accuracy and processing speed improve, that just means the tool’s “performance” has gotten better.
What really matters is what you want to achieve and how you use the technology.


History Teaches Us the Power of ‘Usage’

Human history has changed less at the moment of invention of superior tools, and more at how those tools were incorporated into society.

  • The Steam Engine
    The invention alone did not transform the world. Its applications in factories, railways, and ships initiated the Industrial Revolution.

  • Electricity
    Discovery alone had no impact on daily life; it was the use in lighting, mechanization of factories, and telecommunication networks that changed people’s lives.

  • The Internet
    Beyond the circuits and communication technologies themselves, it was innovations like search engines and social media—the “ways of using”—that revolutionized the world.

These examples clearly show:
The application design of technology holds greater power to change society than technological advancement alone.


Modern AI Use Cases

AI is already creating new usages across diverse domains.

  • Assisting medical diagnosis to reduce misdiagnosis rates
  • Creating optimized learning plans tailored to each student in education
  • Automatically generating script drafts and designs in the creative industry
  • Predicting disaster damage and optimizing rescue routes

All of these are outcomes of considering which problems to solve and how to apply AI effectively, rather than just focusing on AI “performance”.


Challenges and Risks Awaiting the Future

As technology evolves, the importance of how we use it only grows.
Yet misuse or ignorance of proper application can increase risks.

  • Chaos caused by automated generation of fake information
  • Rapid changes in employment due to automation
  • Monopolization of AI technologies by certain corporations or countries
  • Growing distrust arising from lack of transparency and accountability

That is why ethics, guidelines, and education are indispensable alongside competition in performance.


The Roles Reserved for Humans

AI is surpassing humans in information processing and pattern recognition.
However, humans must continue to fulfill these roles:

  1. Setting the Purpose – Deciding what kind of society we want to create through technology is a human task.
  2. Value Judgments – Ethical decisions and aesthetics, which cannot be quantified, remain difficult for AI.
  3. Creative Thinking – Ideas that overturn conventions arise from human experience and intuition.

Conclusion: Connecting Evolution to a “Meaningful Future”

AI evolution is unstoppable.
But improved performance alone does not automatically guarantee a brighter future.

Technology gains value only when shaped by human hands.
To achieve this, society must continuously deliberate not only on advancing performance but also on how to use AI.

GPT-5 and the unknown AI yet to come will truly evolve only if we steer them properly toward the right directions.