A worker preparing to live alone for the first time tells an artificial intelligence assistant, "Find me a place that fits my monthly rent budget and is within 30 minutes of my office." Drawing on listings from Zigbang, the AI recommends homes that meet those conditions and compares maintenance fees and transit options. After the lease is signed, it recalls the earlier conversation and asks first, "Have you filed your move-in report and changed your address?" It then handles the administrative steps that follow a move, including the move-in report, postal address changes and utility transfers. This is the everyday scenario KT has laid out for what it plans to deliver through "AI for All."
Services under "AI for All," in which AI directly manages and completes everyday tasks, will roll out in stages beginning as early as September. The Ministry of Science and ICT has selected three consortiums led by KT, SK Telecom and Kakao to carry out the project, formally titled the program to support universal use of AI services by all citizens. Each consortium is preparing services that apply AI to areas people encounter frequently in daily life, including housing, healthcare, education, employment and public services. The Kakao consortium plans to release a beta service in September, while SK Telecom will unveil its beta in October before launching a full service within the year.
AI for All aims to go a step beyond general-purpose chatbots such as ChatGPT, which answer questions users ask, and become an "AI agent" that connects to actual public, medical, financial, education and housing services to complete the task at hand. Instead of users navigating multiple apps and websites themselves to search for information and get things done, they tell the AI what they need and it finds the relevant service and carries them through to the next step.
SK Telecom Pitches a Daily-Life AI Assistant Spanning Government Paperwork, Health and Jobs
SK Telecom has put forward a "daily-life AI assistant" that handles everything from government paperwork to health management and job hunting. By linking with Government24 and PASS, the service will allow users to obtain 83 types of certificates, including resident registration abstracts. For users who have had a medical checkup, it acts as a "health management assistant." It gathers scattered checkup results and treatment and prescription histories in one place, explains them in plain language and flags items that need to be tested again. A function that guides users to nearby hospitals when they describe symptoms and connects them to appointment booking is also in preparation.
For job seekers, it becomes an "employment assistant." When a user asks about recent job postings, it presents new openings along with related youth policies. If a user registers a job posting of interest, it tracks application deadlines and helps with writing cover letters and preparing for interviews. For small business owners, the plan is to have it serve as a "store management consultant," organizing sales, costs and tax status while finding government support programs the owner may be eligible for and outlining qualifications and schedules.
KT Focuses on Personalized AI, From Children to Small Business Owners
KT has focused on a "personalized AI" that ties together different daily-life services such as housing, education, finance and shopping into a single assistant. With the user's consent, it remembers interests, schedules and tasks in progress, and proactively suggests what needs to be done next. If a child struggles with the movements of the moon and the Earth in science class, it explains the concepts at a level suited to the child's age and learning stage and recommends related content from EBS and Qanda. If needed, it also generates three-dimensional visual materials showing how the moon and the Earth move.
For small business owners, it becomes a management aide. Asked, "My sales have fallen recently, so analyze the cause and find support programs I can apply for," it draws on market and consumer data to lay out possible causes and directions for improvement. It then checks available support programs and eligibility requirements and walks the user through the necessary documents and procedures. Going beyond simply finding a home for a user about to move, and proactively suggesting the next steps after the contract, such as the move-in report and address change, is also part of the personalized AI that KT has presented.
Kakao Makes AI Easier to Use Through KakaoTalk, the Nation's Messenger
The Kakao consortium is making KakaoTalk, familiar to virtually everyone in the country, the main point of contact for AI. Rather than having to seek out a separate AI service, users can access a general-purpose AI chatbot within KakaoTalk and, when needed, be connected to a public-sector AI agent or to specialized AI agents covering fields such as healthcare, finance, taxation, education, employment and care services. The service will run on in-house AI models including Kakao's Kanana and the LG AI Research Institute's K-EXAONE.
Users are also unlikely to need to install a new app or learn how to use one. The consortium of Kakao and LG Uplus plans to provide an environment in which AI can be used with a single phone call, without installing an app or signing up separately. SK Telecom will likewise make its AI available not only through a smartphone app but also by phone call and text message.
KT will build a dedicated AI for All app and website while also applying AI functions to Daum, Genie TV and existing services of companies participating in its consortium. The expectation is that older adults and people who are not comfortable with digital devices will be able to use AI through the phone calls, text messages and KakaoTalk they already use.
Narrowing Gaps in AI Use and Giving Domestic AI a Real-World Stage
Behind the government's push for AI for All is a concern that the rapid spread of AI could create new gaps based on the ability to use it and the cost of doing so. AI for All is a program to support all citizens in using AI without cost burdens or usage constraints. It focuses in particular on improving accessibility so that digitally vulnerable groups, including older adults and people with disabilities, are not left out of the benefits of AI. That is the reason SK Telecom is turning to phone calls and text messages, Kakao and LG Uplus to KakaoTalk and phone calls, and KT to its offline distribution network and IT Supporters program.
Another aim is to create actual use cases for the domestic AI industry. The KT consortium will draw on multiple Korean AI models, including KT's Mi:dm, Upstage's Solar, Motif Technologies' Motif, Saltlux's LUXIA and NC AI's VARCO. It will also deploy domestic AI infrastructure technologies, such as Rebellions' Korean-made neural processing units and the GPU operation optimization technologies of Lablup and VESSL AI.
SK Telecom will build its service around A.X K2, its own proprietary AI foundation model, while also drawing on a range of domestic AI models. The Kakao consortium will run its service on Kakao's Kanana and the LG AI Research Institute's K-EXAONE. Rather than relying on a single AI model, the approach applies multiple Korean AI models and related technologies to services used by the public. The goal is to turn large-scale services that citizens actually use into a real-world stage where domestic AI models and technologies can prove their performance and usability.
