[Interview] "Leading the AI Ecosystem by Sharing KT Know-how through 'Genie Labs'"

Strengthening AI Collaboration through Genie Labs
Supporting New Service Development Next Year to Fully Launch the Platform

Senior Researcher Jinwoo Baek (left) and Principal Researcher Minseok Song of the AI Service Planning Team at KT Convergence Technology Institute. (Photo by KT)

[Asia Economy Reporter Oh Su-yeon] KT is fostering the domestic artificial intelligence (AI) ecosystem through its open research and development portal, 'Genie Labs.' The company plans to share AI expertise accumulated across various fields such as telecommunications, finance, robotics, and healthcare with developers and startups, thereby promoting the emergence of new AI innovative services.

KT officially launched Genie Labs earlier this month following its pilot opening in June. The plan is to create synergy by sharing various AI technologies and know-how, including the AI speaker Giga Genie, which has been distributed to 3 million units domestically.

On the 30th, we met with Song Min-seok (48), Principal Researcher, and Baek Jin-woo (45), Senior Researcher, from KT’s Convergence Technology Institute AI Service Planning Team, who planned the Genie Labs service and participated in the entire process up to its launch. Principal Researcher Song explained, "What Genie Labs pursues is an AI eco-playground," adding, "We will create a platform to promote domestic AI information and open application programming interfaces (APIs) so that AI technologies developed through technical cooperation with companies can be utilized across various industrial sectors."

Although AI is a hot topic across various fields, it remains challenging for university students, graduate students, and current developers to personally create AI services that are practically useful in daily life. At the same time, AI is still difficult and distant for customers. Despite research in various fields, it is hard to feel the utility of AI closely in everyday life.

Genie Labs consists of four main sections: 'AI Tech Space,' which introduces AI technologies and solutions; 'AI Data Hub,' which discloses AI projects and national research tasks conducted by KT; 'AI Eco Space,' where developers can actually try various APIs; and 'AI Evaluation,' a community-style section comparing domestic and international API performance.

For example, the dialect conversion feature in AI Eco Space outputs "Dotgoegi jusigessseumnikka?" in Jeju dialect when the input is "Do you want pork?" AI Tech Space introduces technologies and solutions not only from KT but also from partner companies, providing references for developing new AI services.

Principal Researcher Song said, "General users can see how AI technology works from a service perspective, and developers can understand which technologies they can use to create services."

Genie Labs is characterized by reflecting the voices from actual development sites. Song noted, "In the AI development challenge conducted by KT, participants most needed training data. Since KT provided data, they could test what they developed and improve accuracy, which was well received." He added, "I hope many IT developers utilize Genie Labs in various ways and create many technologies or services that require AI." To increase utilization by current developers, community functions were enhanced by referencing the advantages of overseas platforms like GitHub.

Senior Researcher Jinwoo Baek (left) and Principal Researcher Minseok Song of the AI Service Planning Team at KT Convergence Technology Institute. Photo by KT

KT is currently collaborating with various companies and universities through the AI One Team and plans to extend this cooperation to Genie Labs. Principal Researcher Song said, "We plan to disclose the results of joint research and AI technology development with KAIST and research institutes through Genie Labs," adding, "Recently, the AI One Team selected 100 AI startups, and we are discussing ways to disclose these companies’ technologies through Genie Labs."

Senior Researcher Baek said, "KT researches AI in various fields, but it cannot do everything alone. Ultimately, working with partners is important," adding, "We will provide promotional opportunities through Genie Labs for contest winners and excellent companies, and partner companies’ APIs will also be showcased on Genie Labs." KT is introducing Genie Labs to global companies and discussing cooperation.

Starting next year, KT plans to formalize the platform by supporting new AI service development such as consulting through Genie Labs. Principal Researcher Song said, "Next year, we are preparing a program to support AI development that customers envision by obtaining ideas through communication with them," adding, "Our goal is to have services utilizing the technologies or APIs provided by Genie Labs."