SOUTH Korea plans to launch this year a free artificial intelligence chatbot service powered by domestic technology, Seoul said Tuesday, seeking to reduce reliance on foreign platforms.
Roughly half of South Korea’s population of 51 million used generative AI applications in February, according to market research firm Wiseapp-Retail.
The vast majority — nearly 23 million — used ChatGPT, developed by US firm OpenAI.
As the technology has spread, countries have become increasingly concerned with so-called “AI sovereignty” — developing domestic models serving their own security, privacy and business interests.
A spokesperson for South Korea’s science ministry told AFP Tuesday that a government initiative aims to roll out a general-purpose AI chatbot as well as an AI agent capable of more complex tasks by the end of the year.
“To persuade users to move away from foreign AI services they already pay for, we need to provide services that are even better,” Science Minister Bae Kyung-hoon told reporters on Monday.
“We want Korea to move quickly into the era of AI agents and compete in that field,” he told a news briefing.
The government’s first priority under its “AI for All” scheme is to integrate public AI agent services that would provide functions unavailable on existing foreign platforms, the minister said.
AFP
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