40% of SKT customers use AI-based chatbot service

By Kim Joo-heon Posted : September 29, 2021, 17:25 Updated : January 6, 2023, 01:29

[Courtesy of SK Telecom]

SEOUL -- The rate of customers using South Korean top mobile carrier SK Telecom's artificial intelligence-based chatbot customer service reached almost 40 percent as of September 2021. Some 1.5 million inquiries were made through the chatbot service.

Chatbot services are being used in various sectors due to their efficiency. The artificial intelligence (AI)-based virtual assistant robot can engage in natural language communications through text and verbal conversations. Customers can choose to speak directly with human assistants if chatbots cannot provide a solution. A voicebot is a chatbot specializing in verbal conversations. 

Kakao Bank, web service giant Kakao's online bank, has also adopted chatbot service that can provide ARS (auto route selection) customer service and answer frequently asked questions. About 50 percent of Kakao Bank customers used chatbot services in 2021.

After adopting a text-based counseling chatbot in 2018 and an AI customer service voicebot in 2020, SK Telecom (SKT) used a voice synthesis technology to apply the same voice model to more than 60 ARS services. The voice synthesis technology was originally adopted by AI home assistant speaker "NUGU" in 2016. SKT said in a statement on September 29 that the use of AI-based customer service including voicebot and chatbot services exceeded 1.5 million.

"SKT will continue to create new values to customers as a leading AI service company," SKT official Lee Ki-yoon was quoted as saying. SKT will upgrade its voicebot so that it can compute conversations that involve emotional expressions that are difficult for an AI to understand.
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