KT to increase GiGa Genie users to 1.5 mil.
A model and two children show AR content used with dinosaurs that will be introduced in KT's GiGa Genie AI devices by the end of the year, at KT Square in central Seoul, Thursday. The firm said it has enhanced AI-based services for children in a bid to increase the number of GiGa Genie users to 1.5 million by the end of the year. / Courtesy of KT
By Jun Ji-hye
KT has enhanced its services powered by artificial intelligence (AI) technology for children, with the aim of increasing the number of users of its GiGa Genie AI speaker to 1.5 million by the end of the year, the firm said Thursday.
To achieve the goal, the company will also expand its AI-based services for cars and hotels.
The nation's biggest fixed-line internet operator and second-largest mobile carrier noted the number of users of its voice-activated device has reached 800,000 since its January 2017 release.
During a press conference held in central Seoul, the firm said it has focused on children and education content to popularize its GiGA Genie system.
New services announced during the conference include a voice-activated audio book function for children.
“Currently, 100 books in a variety of areas including fairy tales, history and science are on the service list,” said Kim Chae-hee, senior vice president who heads KT's AI business unit. “The number of books will increase to 600 by the end of the year.”
In collaboration with the education company Daekyo, KT also released a function that helps parents tell fairy tales to their children more dynamically. For example, when parents say “A frog sings a song,” the GiGA Genie device recognizes it and makes the sound of a frog croaking.
The firm will release augmented reality (AR) content used with dinosaurs by the end of the month.
To enhance education content, KT has formed partnerships with companies such as Pagoda Academy, a frontrunner in foreign language education in Korea, to offer content such as everyday English for adults through TVs connected with the GiGA Genie system.
Kim said Chinese will be added to the firm's foreign language education services in the second half of the year.
In a bid to further expand its AI services, KT plans to launch a “connected car” service, enabling users to control their cars from at home or work using the GiGA Genie platform. Through voice commands, users will be able to turn on their cars, as well as heaters or air conditioners.
“For such service, we formed a partnership with Hyundai Motor,” Kim said. “The service will be launched by the end of the year.”
KT's AI technology will also be applied to hotel services in June.
Dubbed as “AI concierge,” the service will work as an AI assistant for hotel guests, offering functions such as lighting, air conditioning and heating control as well as information such as traffic and weather.
The service will first support English. Chinese and Japanese will be added later, the firm said.