SK Telecom launches AI-based phone interpreting service

South Korea’s top mobile carrier SK Telecom Co. has launched an artificial intelligence-based telephone interpreting service in real-time for the first time in the country.

SK Telecom on Thursday introduced the A. Call Translator for its subscribers using the iPhone series through the A. app, which allows users of the Apple smartphones to record calls based on AI.

The interpretation service, which is currently available in Korean, English, Chinese and Japanese, is activated when an SK Telecom customer makes a call on the A. app and presses the service icon at the bottom of the dial pad. The recipient does not need to be an SK Telecom subscriber nor use an iPhone nor the A. app.

When a caller uses the service, the recipient will be informed that the call will be interpreted.

The company aims to increase the number of languages available for the real-time interpreting service and extend it for users of Android smartphones such as the Samsung Galaxy series.

“We plan to expand support for various languages and evolve the A. into a more personalized AI assistant service," said SK Telecom Chief AI Service Officer Kim Yong-hun in a statement.

When a Korean speaker calls a hotel in the US for a reservation using the A. Call Translator, the AI-based service will interpret the hotel employee's English responses into Korean, for example. 

The service will be useful to foreign residents in South Korea, SK Telecom said. Foreigners living in the country who cannot speak Korean will be able to access services at government offices or make reservations for hotels and call hospitals in their own language.

Write to Seung-Woo Lee at leeswoo@hankyung.com
 
Jongwoo Cheon edited this article.