VOL.97/2026.08

 

The Future That Arrived First:
People Who Experienced the Age of AI

Facing a Paradigm Shift: Do We Have Time Left?

 

2025.08.04

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The advent of AlphaGo shattered the belief that only humans could turn play into art. For the average person, it was a testament to the progress of technology, but it was a traumatizing moment for professional Go players who had spent their entire lives playing the sport, as if their very existence was being denied. Having experienced the post-AI world before anyone else, they were aware of it. The “future that came first” had finally arrived. However, the impact of AI is not limited to Go. The progress of technology has never stopped, and it has taken all aspects of human life including literature and art, labor and education into the era of AI. Is “no” an option in the face of technological progress? Author Chang Kang-Myoung states,

 

“Even if you don’t use AI, your values change and shift because of others who do.” - from the book

 

Is the belief that technology will never be able to encroach on areas that are intrinsically a human domain valid? What will be the meaning of existence for humanity, having entered the age of AI without realizing it? Are the elements necessary for literature really unique to humans? What will become of fiction when we surrender brilliance to AI? Would I still be able to love fiction then? “The Future That Arrived First,” told through the voices of 30 professional Go players by journalist and novelist Chang Kang-Myoung, And, the question left for us: What changes will AI bring? What role will we play in that transformation? A book that questions the position of humanity in the age of AI.

 

The Future That Arrived First: People Who Experienced the Age of AI
Written by Chang Kang-Myoung, published by EAST-ASIA Publishing Co.

 

 

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