The Age of No Search and No Choice:
How Zero-Click and Human-in-the-Loop Are Redefining Marketing
Session Overview
The ten key themes of Trend Korea 2026 revolve around a dialectical elevation between artificial intelligence and humanity. Among them, the two most critical keywords for marketing are Human-in-the-Loop and Zero-Click.
Human-in-the-Loop (HITL) refers to an AI utilization philosophy in which human intervention is required at least once in the AI-driven process. Humans step in as commanders, validators, and final decision-makers—enhancing system accuracy while infusing contextual understanding, ethical judgment, and creative sensibility into outcomes.
Beyond the passive notion of keeping AI under human control, HITL represents an active collaboration model in which humans and AI leverage their respective strengths to produce optimal results.
Zero-Click describes a user experience in which decisions and recommendations are made by the system without requiring users to actively search, choose, or click. A click is not merely an action—it signifies choice. Fewer clicks mean AI increasingly assumes the burden of decision-making, reducing cognitive effort for users. This marks a structural shift in consumer sovereignty: from searching humans to suggesting AI.
Zero-Click is more than convenience-driven technology; it fundamentally challenges our understanding of consumption and the very nature of human choice. In 2026, it will emerge as one of the most consequential trends redefining consumer behavior.
Behind the promise of convenience in the era of AI-driven transformation lie critical concerns, including privacy infringement, the erosion of human agency, and widening gaps driven by data inequality and social stratification. In an era of choice without choosing—engineered by technology—how should we respond, and how can we reclaim and safeguard human agency?
Speaker
He is the author of Trend Korea, South Korea’s most influential consumer trend series, written annually for 18 years since 2008. His other works include K-Beauty Trends, Twenty-One, Thirty-Nine, The Hyundai Seoul Insights, and Market Kurly Insights.
Professor Kim served for 28 years as a professor of Consumer Science at Seoul National University, beginning in 1997. In 2025, he took early retirement to focus more fully on writing and creative work.