Skip to content
  • KOSPI 2746.87 +1.05 +0.04%
  • KOSDAQ 903.64 -6.41 -0.70%
  • KOSPI200 374.69 +1.47 +0.39%
  • USD/KRW 1345.1 -5.9 -0.44%
  • JPY100/KRW 888.68 -3.75 -0.42%
  • EUR/KRW 1449.35 -8.18 -0.56%
  • CNH/KRW 185.34 -0.69 -0.37%
View Market Snapshot
Artificial intelligence

AI humans take quantum leap in Korean entertainment and media

Startups and conglomerates alike eager to utilize virtual humans

By Jan 18, 2022 (Gmt+09:00)

5 Min read

Virtual K-pop group ETERN!TY developed and owned by Pulse9
Virtual K-pop group ETERN!TY developed and owned by Pulse9


At first glance, ETERN!TY is similar to other K-pop bands – dancing to upbeat music and the female members donning pink tennis outfits. 

What sets the new group from the rest is that its 11 members do not exist in the physical world. 

ETERN!TY, developed by the artificial intelligence graphics company Pulse9 Inc., debuted last March. One of the members named DAIN released her first music video four months ago, which has already garnered more than 2.2 million views. 

“We plan to develop a virtual celebrity more real than humans, by advancing the ‘Deep Real’ technology,” said Jenna Park, the CEO of Pulse9. Park was speaking at the 6th AI Startup Roundtable, sponsored by The Korea Economic Daily and hosted by AI Future Forum and Capstone Partners, one of the leading venture capital firms in South Korea.

HIGH-END STRATEGY 

AI humans are excelling in Korea’s entertainment, media and even finance sectors. 

Amid the rapidly increasing competition, Pulse9’s main strategy is creating high-end celebrities. 

“The main business model is creating and leasing intellectual property of premium AI humans,” Park explained. “There is a surge in inquiries from corporations on how to raise a [virtual] brand ambassador; and entertainment companies want to know how to create a success story like ETERN!TY.”

The virtual members have been chosen via “AI Simkung Challenge 101,” an online competition of sorts, in which people voted for their favorite candidates. 

Pulse9 deployed what it dubs ‘Deep Real’ technology to create each member of ETERN!TY. The program had to learn from 20 years of data on k-pop singers focused on four characteristics; namely cute, sexy, innocent, and intelligent. 

It is worth noting that adopting such deep learning technology is more cost-efficient than the conventional method of using visual effects based on three-dimensional imagery. 

“Lil Miquela, the most famous virtual influencer globally, rakes in 13 billion won a year,” Park said. “We will grow our business by strengthening the virtual modeling business and releasing the ‘self-production’ solution for AI humans in the latter half of this year.” 

Created by Los Angeles-based startup Brud, Miquela Sousa or Lil Miquela has over three million followers on Instagram. Based on an estimate by UK-based online marketplace OnBuy, the American character made around $11.7 million in 2020.

ETERN!TY's music video feat. DAIM garners 2.2 million views on YouTube


STIFF COMPETITION 

Prior to ETERN!TY’s debut, K-pop has long had a reputation for being futuristic. 

For instance, SM Entertainment Co. has been executing plans to integrate its content on a metaverse platform for a few years now.

Towards the end of 2020, SM launched Aespa. The group is made up of four members who each have their own virtual counterpart serving as additional group members. This unique composition is the entertainment juggernaut’s attempt to create a cross-media universe.

Beyond the music scene, Korean tech giants are also looking into replacing social media influencers with virtual humans. 

Naver Webtoon Corp., the digital comics platform of online portal giant Naver Corp. acquired the management rights of virtual human Rozy creator LOCUS Corp. on Christmas eve of 2021.

LOCUS won fame after creating Rozy through its subsidiary Sidus Studio X. The digital human, which the company stylized as a 22-year-old female model born in Gangnam, Seoul, debuted in August 2020 to become the country’s first virtual influencer.

The acquisition was widely thought to help Naver Webtoon start metaverse-related businesses. Experts forecast Naver to use its various webtoon characters on metaverse by utilizing the production capacity of LOCUS to create virtual humans.

Naver’s acquisition follows a similar move by Kakao Corp. Its entertainment platform Kakao M merged with Kakao Page, a content platform for webtoons and web novels, to create Kakao Entertainment Corp. a year ago.

A virtual musician named Reah Keem created by LG ELECTRONICS Inc. took a little while longer to debut than its competitors developed by startups. The character is supposed to channel an artistic woman in her 20s.

Keem first made its public appearance at CES 2021 by emceeing for the LG press conference. Prior to that, it was interacting with its some 15,000 followers on Instagram between May and September 2020.

Last week, Mystic Story, an entertainment company established by singer-songwriter Yoon Jong-shin, signed an MOU with LG to include Reah in what the company describes as virtual voice production. 

The latest collaboration is part of LG’s efforts to put the cyber singer at the forefront of its marketing activities to target  millennials and Generation Z.

Virtual influencer Rozy created by LOCUS, modeling for an insurance advert
Virtual influencer Rozy created by LOCUS, modeling for an insurance advert


IN NEWS AND FINANCE

In addition to entertainment, employing AI news anchors modeled after TV journalists has become quite popular. 

At CES 2022, DeepBrain AI introduced a virtual anchor named Jennifer, based on a news anchor at Arirang TV. It is fluent in both English and Korean and copies the human’s intonation and gestures to a tee. When a user inputs a written script, the AI human delivers it on camera as a human journalist would. 

In June 2020, the Korean startup established its Shanghai office and has been providing AI anchor technologies to Chinese broadcasters since then. 

MINDs Lab, founded in 2014, has developed an AI human called M1 that can recognize and understand human faces and voices. The ability to understand human speech makes it uniquely valuable in a number of industries such as banking, security, and senior care. 

For example, a Shinhan Bank branch in Anyang, Gyeonggi Province employs a MINDS Lab AI human that greets visitors and assists clients with transactions. 

Local broadcaster MBC uses one as a news reader and the national media outlet KBS Radio employs one as a weathercaster. 

“Broadcasting by humans have become really challenging due to the high cost of staffing,” MINDS Lab’s  Chief Visionary Officer Yoo Tae-joon said during an interview with The Korea Economic Daily in late 2021. “Now, AI saves nearly 90% of the cost and even simplifies the process.”

As the technology involved with creating AI humans develops further, more virtual characters will replace people. In a world where mankind, virtual humans, and robots coexist, the meaning of what makes us human could also evolve. 

Write to See-eun Lee, Jee Abbey Lee at see@hankyung.com
Jee Abbey Lee edited this article.

More to Read
Comment 0
0/300