'ChatGPT is our weapon against the labor crunch': SME workers flock to AI training

"I handle all the HR work on my own, so I rely on ChatGPT a lot. It was great to learn tips on writing better prompts."

As generative AI tools take hold in the workplace, a growing number of employees are signing up for training to get more out of ChatGPT and Gemini. The trend is especially pronounced at small and medium-sized enterprises, where staff shortages have made AI a go-to tool for drafting reports and handling marketing tasks — and where workers are studying hard to use it well.

On Monday, 26 people packed an AI class at Hunet Campus in Guro-gu, Seoul. The session, run by corporate training firm Hunet, was titled "Master AI for Work in One Day" and ran eight hours, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., covering ChatGPT from the ground up. The course costs 500,000 won ($325) per person, but SME employees pay only 10 percent out of pocket thanks to a government subsidy covering the rest — a key reason for its popularity.

The day's curriculum centered on ChatGPT basics, practical tips for workplace use and cautions to keep in mind. The morning opened with a foundational session on the interface, where participants familiarized themselves with ChatGPT's features and learned how to control data settings to prevent leaking company secrets. Attendees worked through exercises in real time, following along as the instructor demonstrated each function.

The session then shifted to mastering ChatGPT — specifically, how to write better prompts. Because the quality of AI output depends heavily on how a prompt is phrased, knowing a few key techniques can sharply cut the time it takes to get useful results. The instructor walked participants through small but consequential tips — such as entering a specific date rather than a vague reference, and manually inputting real-time values like exchange rates — before moving on to methods for structuring prompts more efficiently.

Participants also learned how to minimize AI "hallucinations" — instances where the model presents false information as fact — and how to apply chain-of-thought techniques to improve accuracy. The afternoon turned to hands-on practice: writing work emails with simple prompts, drafting meeting minutes and producing various workplace documents. In one exercise, participants used a transcript to generate a meeting summary formatted to their company's template. It took less than five minutes.

SME employees at the session said ChatGPT has long since become indispensable on the job. Park Tae-jun, 33, who works in the HR department at TCC Tongsan, attended as an advance scout — his company is rolling out AI training department by department, with each attendee sharing what they learn with colleagues. "Most reports are already being written with AI," he said. "Without it, the workload is too heavy and too many things fall behind." At smaller companies where individuals juggle multiple roles, he added, AI has become something they simply cannot do without.

Starkey Korea, a hearing aid company, sent six employees from different departments to the same session. Han Ji-min, 42, said an executive who had attended an earlier course recommended it highly, saying it offered many insights into workplace automation. "With staff in short supply, if AI can handle paperwork and presentations, we can focus on more important work and become much more productive," Han said.

Interest in generative AI training among small and medium-sized enterprises is growing fast. What was once largely confined to IT roles has spread across functions — HR, marketing, sales and planning alike. As more companies adopt generative AI to raise the productivity of existing staff amid hiring difficulties, demand for practical training is rising in step. Yu So-young, president of the Korea AI Education Promotion Institute, said training requests have been coming in from small businesses in increasing numbers. "SME employees often have to handle many different tasks on their own, so learning how to use AI lets them accomplish far more — and satisfaction rates are very high," she said.