As generative artificial intelligence emerges as a new way to find information, a growing number of people are using AI tools and traditional web portals side by side, often turning to portals to fact-check what AI tells them. Nine out of 10 ChatGPT users also use NAVER, and the share of NAVER users who also use ChatGPT has climbed to 33% from about 7% in a year and a half.
Among ChatGPT users last month, 91.52% also used NAVER during the same month, according to Mobile Index data released on the 17th. That means more than nine in 10 ChatGPT users are also NAVER users.
The number of people using both apps has also grown. Cross-users of NAVER and ChatGPT rose about 4.5-fold to 15,648,535 last month from 3,446,361 in February last year, an increase of more than 12 million in a year and a half.
Cross-users numbered 9,759,073 in April last year and topped 10 million for the first time that July. The figure kept climbing, passing 15 million in May this year before reaching 15,648,535 last month.
ChatGPT use is spreading quickly among NAVER users as well. Of NAVER users last month, 33.12% also used ChatGPT during the same month, more than four times the 7.75% recorded in February last year, an 18-month span.
The overlap between the two user bases suggests that generative AI is not fully replacing conventional search. Instead, more people appear to be using AI tools and portals together depending on what they need.
Generative AI services such as ChatGPT are strong at summarizing large amounts of information at once and tailoring answers to a user's question and circumstances. NAVER, by contrast, lets users look directly at news, blogs, online cafes, maps and shopping listings for the latest information, other users' experiences and product details. Users can choose between the two services depending on the kind of information they want.
Someone planning a trip, for example, might ask ChatGPT to draw up an itinerary or route, then check a portal for recent restaurant reviews and opening hours. The reverse also happens: users gather information on a portal, then feed it into ChatGPT to compare and organize it around their own requirements.
The spread of generative AI has also changed how people search on portals. Beyond typing short keywords, users increasingly write full sentences that spell out their situation and conditions. NAVER said the share of search queries of 15 characters or more more than doubled last year from a year earlier. As users grow accustomed to asking questions in natural language through generative AI, sentence- and scenario-based searches are increasing on conventional portals as well, the analysis suggests.
Targeting users now comfortable with natural-language queries, NAVER formally launched an "AI tab" in June. Some analysts say the line between the two services is gradually blurring as portals strengthen search experiences that resemble those of AI.
