Kakao's 'AI Chatbot' Attracts 13,000 Users Like a Swarm... Suspended After One Day

Kakao Launches AI Chatbot 'Dadaeum' Pilot Service
From Search and Translation to Drawing
Pilot Service Suspended After One Day Due to User Surge
Korean-style ChatGPT Services Emerging
High User Interest but Profitability Concerns Remain

Kakao's artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot 'ddmm' was suspended just one day after its pilot service launch. This was due to an unexpectedly large influx of users following news of the Korean version of ChatGPT. Similar chatbot services that interact with users in a conversational manner, like ChatGPT, are gradually emerging in South Korea. However, concerns remain regarding service stability and profitability.

Image Generation 'In a Snap'... Silent on Difficult Questions

Kakao's subsidiary Kakao Brain began the pilot service of the AI chatbot ddmm, accessible via KakaoTalk, on the 19th. Within just one day of service launch, ddmm attracted over 13,000 users.

Ddmm is a service combining Kakao Brain's large-scale language AI model 'KoGPT' and the image generation model 'Karlo.' It supports ▲text-to-image conversion ▲recommendations (restaurants, shopping information, content, travel destinations, etc.) ▲complex information searches ▲language learning ▲translation, among other functions.

Ddmm resembled services like Microsoft's (MS) search engine 'Bing' and ChatGPT. However, the integration of Karlo stood out with its ability to draw simple sentences as pictures. For example, when prompted with "Draw Seoul on a spring day filled with fine dust," it responded within about 10 seconds with an image depicting a hazy sky.

Kakao Brain conducted a pilot service of the AI chatbot 'Dadaum'. The service was temporarily suspended after just one day due to a surge in users. The photo shows the process of converting text into images.

Dadaeum introducing the Netflix drama The Glory in English.

When asked to introduce the Netflix drama 'The Glory' in English, it promptly generated a short description. Most responses, similar to Bing, included footnotes citing sources so users could verify facts or obtain more detailed information.

Several areas for improvement were also identified. Unlike ChatGPT, ddmm could not perform tasks such as creating novels based on given words. Additionally, it refrained from answering questions requiring value judgments or those difficult to respond to. This contrasted with other chatbot services that offer diverse perspectives.

Ddmm was temporarily suspended after a surge in users on the first day. A Kakao Brain representative explained, "We do not yet know when the service will resume, but since we are closing and reopening it, more time than just a day or two is needed to sufficiently ensure stability."

The representative emphasized, "This is not a temporary suspension or cancellation of the service; it will definitely return."

Usage of Upstage's AI chatbot 'AskUP'.

Korean-style ‘ChatGPT’ Emerging One After Another... Profitability Concerns

Large-scale AI-powered services are gradually appearing in South Korea. Each promotes different core features, marking the start of competition, but profitability remains a concern.

Upstage offers the AI chatbot ‘AskUp’ (hereafter Asukup) for free on KakaoTalk. Asukup combines OpenAI's language model GPT-4 with Upstage's optical character recognition (OCR) technology, earning it the nickname 'ChatGPT with eyes.' Recently, a corporate version called 'AskUp Biz' was also released in beta.

Asukup has gained popularity with over 270,000 users. However, as popularity grows, operational burdens increase. GPT-4, applied in Asukup, is 15 times more expensive than previous GPT models. Therefore, Upstage limits the number of daily uses per user to manage operations.

AI chatbot company SimSimi and Web3 service development specialist Chain Partners also operate chatbot services. Although operating costs are significant due to the application of large-scale AI, all services are currently free.

The reason most services are free is that with the widespread adoption of large-scale AI, there are few distinguishing features among services. Additionally, if free services were converted to paid ones, it is uncertain whether users would be willing to pay.

An AI industry insider said, "Although the ChatGPT craze is ongoing, user demand for paid services has not been concretely identified," adding, "It is expected that trends can be observed after global companies commercialize and launch paid services."