Kakao unveils new AI assistant service to be launched on KakaoTalk

In a move set to revolutionize the way users interact with their messaging apps, Kakao Corp. announced the launch of its integrated artificial intelligence (AI) assistant service, Kanana Space, on its popular platform KakaoTalk. This announcement was made at the company's annual developers event in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, south of Seoul.

Kanana Space, which will be available following a successful closed beta test in December, represents a significant shift from the graphical user interface (GUI) to a language user interface (LUI). This new interface will be capable of understanding the context and purpose of a user's request, streamlining the process of task completion.

CEO Chung Shin-a emphasized the importance of this transition, stating that the goal is to create a seamless user experience where requests are made effortlessly and tasks are executed swiftly. The Kanana Space service is built on a multi-layered AI architecture, allowing it to perform tasks such as recommending workout clothes based on weather and users' workout data, or planning schedules by analyzing a user's message history on KakaoTalk.

The company also unveiled its technological strategies for the foundation AI model, Kanana, which powers the new service. Kakao's approach involves providing the best outcomes for all requests, while avoiding the use of its largest model for each request. To maintain the quality of its smaller language models, the company has adopted Multi-Teacher On-Policy Distillation, a post-training technique for AI models.

Chung highlighted that the key metric for evaluating the quality of generative AI has shifted from the ability to produce good answers to the ability to complete requested tasks. The ultimate goal is to create an AI that makes a tangible difference in people's daily lives by providing intelligence tailored to individual differences, all while maintaining the app's ability to connect everyone.