Is "Earning 10 Million Won a Month with AI" a Scam?… 'Realistic AI Utilization Methods' to Protect Retirement Funds After Resignation

For the 5060 generation approaching retirement, 'side hustles using AI (Artificial Intelligence)' is an attractive temptation. However, advertisements commonly seen on social media (SNS) such as YouTube, like "10 million won monthly profit through AI automation," require caution. According to a video from the YouTube channel 'Finance with Toad Tax Accountant', many of these profit certifications are manipulated cases, and by the time a profit model is fully established, it is often the 'tail end' where it is very difficult for new entrants to make a profit.

"AI Side Hustles are at the Tail End"... The Correlation Between Profit Certification and Lecture Sales

Author Lee Si-han, appearing in the video, expressed caution regarding claims that one can easily make large sums of money using AI. Lee pointed out, "If you could earn 10 million won a month with AI, would you bother telling people that method?" and noted, "The act of selling lectures while emphasizing profits itself means that the profit model has already shifted to 'education'." In other words, the explanation is that the main source of income is often the education business teaching how to use AI, rather than the AI automation profit itself.

In fact, the video mentions that there are cases where live viewer counts are manipulated or profit certifications are fabricated to sell lectures. Specifically, methods such as manipulating the number of live viewers to 2,000 people were mentioned. Furthermore, channels that mass-produce low-quality content generated by AI face a high risk of having their monetization suspended or their channels deleted according to the YouTube platform's management policies. Recently, cases have occurred where channels with millions of subscribers overseas have been deleted due to the issue of mass-producing low-quality content. In particular, AI videos in the form of "makjang" dramas using provocative thumbnails may record high views, but they are identified as factors that lower the credibility of the platform. Therefore, rather than simply following trends, it is essential to have the insight to judge whether a model is sustainable in the current environment.

To Not Become a 'Wild Wolf' After Retirement... Focus on "Work Expansion"

Regarding those who jump into starting a convenience store or a restaurant without preparation after retirement, Lee compared them to 'wolves that escape the zoo but fail to adapt to the wild.' This is because reckless entrepreneurship without sufficient field experience carries a high risk of losing all retirement savings.

Then, what strategy should those preparing for retirement in the AI era establish? Lee emphasized, "Instead of worrying about how to make money with AI, you should worry about how to expand your own work." For example, if an expert has been in overseas sales for 25 years, they could use AI as a tool to convert B2B (business-to-business) work, which was difficult to perform as an individual in the past, into an individual-level business model. This signifies a shift in perspective to "how to attach AI to my work."

It is important to perform this modeling in advance during the 2 to 3 years before retirement. In the past, verifying hypotheses required massive time and cost, but now, one can test business models cheaply and quickly through AI. Lee advised, "Through AI, you can establish hypotheses and simulate the results of performing specific tasks," and "If a decent model emerges through this process, you should study that field intensively before leaving, so you don't feel like you've been suddenly thrown into it."

Additionally, the importance of becoming familiar with AI was mentioned in the video. Lee suggested a way of use such as, instead of asking a professor whether a child is receiving coding education, inputting the child's characteristics into AI to obtain customized answers. The explanation is that becoming familiar with AI, such as obtaining customized answers for personal concerns rather than seeing AI as a simple tool, is a survival strategy for latecomers.

0 Headquarters Employees, a Franchise Operated via AI Automation

In the video, Park Jun-han, CEO of 'Cheongchun FMB', was introduced as an actual success story of AI automation. It is known that the 'Cheongchun Dakkochi' franchise operated by CEO Park has implemented an 'unmanned automation' model with 0 headquarters employees, despite having approximately 80 to 100 franchised stores nationwide.

This achievement is the result of steadily using AI from the early stages and acquiring technical sense. CEO Park has been utilizing AI since early on, to the extent that he published a ChatGPT outlook report in Korea almost for the first time in February 2023. He minimized the physical manpower required for headquarters operations by automating things like customer service (CS) management through AI. Using the time secured through this, he is currently conducting automation consulting and designing new businesses.

Ultimately, the survival strategy in the AI era lies not in viewing AI as a simple 'money-making tool,' but in utilizing it as an 'intelligent tool' that combines with one's professional knowledge to maximize work efficiency and create new added value. Lee advised, "It is important to have the sense to become familiar with AI and constantly test how far it can go." Meanwhile, in the recent global market, discussions regarding the era of AI infrastructure investment are continuing, with mentions of the AI bubble theory and the case of China's DeepSeek, but Lee interpreted this as a process similar to the distribution of the internet, seeing it as the process where AI is actually being disseminated.