[AI Revolution](34) Embedding Human Emotions in AI... Smilegate

"Our goal is to create AI that feels human and AI that is fun."

Smilegate's artificial intelligence (AI) research is different. Many game companies are engaging in AI research. Most limit the role of AI to within the game?utilizing AI for smoother game operations and in-game content development. However, Smilegate is enabling AI to empathize with human emotions such as sadness and joy. Their goal is to make AI itself a source of entertainment.

Smilegate officially launched its AI Center in 2020. Center Director Han Woo-jin has been leading Smilegate's AI research since 2019. From its inception, the AI Center has pursued the mission of developing technology for 'Human-Like AI' and 'Fun AI.'

Han Woo-jin, Head of Smilegate AI Center

Director Han said, "We aim for AI that is like a friend rather than a machine or robot, developing technology to mimic personal memories, emotional states, and speech patterns," adding, "Our center's goal is technologies that enable natural interaction based on emotions, with responses and voice reflecting this information."

One of the AI Center's representative achievements is the virtual human 'Han Yu-a.' Debuting as a singer in 2019, she secured an exclusive contract with a YG Entertainment subsidiary. She is also active in other fields such as modeling and writing, playing a leading role in the virtual human industry. Han Yu-a's ability to lead stems from the AI Center's conversational recognition, voice recognition, and generation technologies, allowing her to appear more human than actual humans.

Director Han explained, "Our long-term goal is to create customized AI with specific knowledge, personality, and characteristics, rather than typical AI that has features of many people," and added, "Various unit technologies developed along the way to this long-term goal are currently partially applied to Smilegate's characters and chatbots."

Director Han envisions that AI development will soon enable humans and NPCs (Non-Player Characters) to coexist and live together in virtual spaces. To make life in virtual spaces similar to reality, it is crucial how human-like NPCs appear. This requires AI to learn to understand human emotions, which is why Smilegate is accelerating research in this area.

Smilegate Virtual Human Hanyu-a

Director Han stated, "It's not about providing accurate answers, but empathizing with various emotional elements such as human sadness and joy and offering content based on that, which creates more valuable products," and added, "When considering what the next-generation entertainment for future generations might be, smart and emotional AI will be one of the core values of such next-generation entertainment."

Meanwhile, Smilegate's AI Center not only secures AI technology but also plans services to apply it. Because they must perform complex tasks connecting AI technology to actual services, the personnel composition is more diverse than typical AI research organizations. Experts in psychology and humanities work together to conduct broad research.

They have also embarked on nurturing AI talent. Director Han said, "Through investments, we have established a collaborative system composed of academia and specialized startups," and added, "Currently, we are collaborating in various forms such as the AI Graduate School at Sogang University, Smilegate tracks, and research centers to cultivate AI talent."