"Honey, don’t forget what I asked you last week."
With his wife’s KakaoTalk message in mind, he frantically searches his memory. In the past, he would have scrolled through the messages to recall the request, but now things have changed.
"Space, what did my wife say last week?"
In response, Ryan, the representative character, replies, "You were asked to pick up a cake on your way home for Hayoung's birthday."
Kakao held its annual developer conference, 'If Kakao,' on October 13 at its AI campus in Yongin, South Korea, where it unveiled its new AI service, 'Kanana Space.' This AI assistant can be accessed anywhere on KakaoTalk.
This year’s conference, now in its eighth iteration, adopted the slogan 'Intelligence for All Connections.' Kakao, which has connected various aspects of life for the past 15 years, is now enhancing these connections with AI, offering hyper-personalized services tailored to individual user experiences.
CEO Jeong Shin-a stated in his keynote address, "Kakao has been connecting people, daily life, and online and offline experiences under the goal of 'connecting everything in the world' for the past 15 years. We are now expanding the connections we have built to a new level."
The core service is the 'Kanana Space' AI assistant, which can be summoned from anywhere within KakaoTalk. By combining the character Ryan with voice capabilities, Kakao aims to lower the barriers to using AI. The assistant connects conversations on KakaoTalk to real actions. On PCs, users can create their own AI agents to perform tasks, marking Kakao's solution for the era of agent-based AI.
Users can summon Ryan by swiping down with two fingers on any KakaoTalk screen, eliminating the need to launch a separate AI app. Ryan can handle various tasks, including sending messages, managing schedules, conducting web searches, and adjusting KakaoTalk settings. Users can also engage in casual conversations with the AI. Kakao plans to expand the experience of conversing with AI by utilizing various character intellectual properties (IP).
Kanana Space aims for hyper-personalization, providing responses based on the context of requests and the diverse information accumulated within KakaoTalk. The goal is to make AI a personal assistant in daily life.
For instance, if the AI detects during a conversation that the user needs bottled water, saying "Order bottled water" will prompt it to suggest previously ordered items and apply any available coupons. The aim is for the AI to assist with the entire process from ordering to payment.
Kakao is accepting pre-registrations for Kanana Space starting today and plans to conduct a closed beta test (CBT) later this year for selected applicants.
Additionally, Kakao is creating an environment where users can build and utilize their own AI. A representative service, 'Kanvas,' allows users to assemble and execute their own agent teams on PCs.
Kanvas enables users to describe the roles of the agents they need, connecting them with the appropriate tools and functions to create a working environment. Users can create AI agents for various purposes, such as assisting with tax-related tasks, handling legal information, or comparing flight prices.
This approach broadens the scope of AI usage, allowing users to delegate repetitive tasks to AI while focusing on essential aspects. Kakao is also preparing a feature for users to share their created agents, fostering an ecosystem where personal AI applications can spread among users. Kanvas plans to conduct a CBT for a small group of users as early as this year.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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