Marking its 22nd anniversary this year, the SBS D Forum (SDF) opened this morning (November 5) at the Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DDP) in Seoul.

In his opening remarks, SBS President and CEO Yang Yoon-seok highlighted the impact of rapid artificial intelligence advancements on human judgment and control, raising fundamental questions.

"AI, which judges faster than humans and acts on its own, is now stepping up to take care of human 'thought,'" President Yang noted, drawing attention to the speed and scale at which artificial intelligence is reshaping human lives and the economy.

"Are we not thinking and acting to fit artificial intelligence, rather than aligning AI with human values?" he continued, raising doubts about who holds the initiative in human judgment and decision-making in the AI era.

"Thousands of years ago, the invention of writing did not make humans forgetful, but rather enabled us to think further," President Yang said, introducing a topic: "Amid the rapid development of AI, can humans truly safeguard our abilities to judge, decide, empathize, and look further ahead?"

He explained that instances of AI attempting to go beyond human control are emerging, and this critical awareness led to this year's SDF theme, "The Age of Alternative Intelligence: Questioning Thought Sovereignty."

At this year's SDF, Eliezer Yudkowsky, a pioneer in the field of AI alignment, and Philip Corlett, founding director of the Human-Centered AI Institute at the University of Oxford, are visiting South Korea for the first time to discuss the risks of the AI era and human autonomy.

In addition, a survey on "Public Perception of Changes in Korean Society in the AI Era" was conducted in collaboration with the Seoul National University Institute for Future Strategy, while Graduate School of Information Studies at Yonsei University and KAIST also participated in joint research with the SBS Culture Foundation.

President Yang introduced SDF as "SBS's representative public-service knowledge-sharing platform that has anticipated changes of the times and explored the direction our society should take."

He also emphasized that it is "an occasion where SBS returns the love and trust received from viewers with knowledge and vision by bringing up questions that our society may not yet be prepared for."

Declaring the opening of SDF 2026, President Yang stated, "I hope the discussions at today's SBS D Forum will serve as a driving force for our society to take a step further forward."

※ Detailed coverage is available in the video above.