SK Telecom commercial feature AI human to promote content platform

South Korea’s major telecom company SK Telecom Co. has adopted a virtual human to feature in one of its commercial ads for the first time in the country’s mobile carrier industry, the firm said on Monday.   

Named Sua, the virtual human uses SK Telecom’s in-house AI voice technology ito promote natural communication with users in real-time. It is Korea's first virtual human to appear in a commercial using AI technology for voice, while the pre-existing virtual humans have used a voice actor's dubbing, SK Telecom said.

The mobile carrier’s speech synthesis technology has previously been applied to public radio station KBS Radio, SK Telecom’s AI service NUGU and navigator T Map’s celebrity voice services.

Sua appears in the commercial with Jang Won-young, a member of the K-pop group IVE, to introduce the content streaming platform of SK Telecom’s AI service A., pronounced as A dot.

Sua was created by 3D virtual human developer On Mind, the first investee company of SK Square, an investment firm spun off from SK Telecom in November 2021.

Named A. tv, the content platform operates around 10 channels for movies, drama series, sports programs and others. It provides recommendation services for users based on their viewing histories and preferences and automatically downloads content based on these factors.

Write to Seung-Woo Lee at leeswoo@hankyung.com
Jihyun Kim edited this article.