SK Telecom, one of the biggest telecom companies in South Korea, updated its artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot, ‘A.’, bringing new features powered by ChatGPT and Microsoft cloud technologies. The new upgrades will allow users to have human-like conversations with A. and treat it like a “close friend.”

SKT Upgrades its Chatbot to be More Human-Like

South Korea’s telecommunications giant SK Telecom announced on Friday it had upgraded its existing chatbot, equipping it with the sophisticated technology behind the generative AI sensation, ChatGPT. More specifically, the recently launched SK’s chatbot, ‘A. (A dot)’, is getting a new feature called ‘Chat T,’ powered by ChatGPT’s underlying AI technology and Microsoft’s Azure Cloud OpenAI service.

SK Telecom also implemented a chatroom function to A., allowing users to talk to the chatbot and feel like “they are talking to a close friend,” the telecom firm said in the press release. The company said it has also updated its Large Language Model (LLM), allowing users to participate in a multi-turn dialogue.

“The model can understand the context of a conversation and grasp complex intentions, thereby creating a more logical and useful conversation.”

– SK Telecom wrote in the press release.

Some A. Features May Raise Privacy Concerns

The move comes roughly a year after SK Telecom initially launched A. as part of the company’s broader plan to become one of the leading AI service providers. While it may have similarities, the telecom giant attempted to market A. as a different proposition to ChatGPT, adding several cartoon avatars and AI agents to enable “emotional and human-like conversations.”

These AI agents, which SK Telecom refers to as ‘A. friends’ can offer users “counseling and advice on a wide variety of topics,” the company wrote in the press release. While this may sound appealing at first glance, it may raise questions among users about the extent to which their private information is accessed and utilized by the AI tool.

European Union (EU) policymakers recently agreed on the strictest set of regulations on AI, due to fears over the possible risks of this burgeoning technology. The move was opposed by dozens of European companies, with 150 executives signing an open letter to EU lawmakers, citing risks of undermining the bloc’s technological ambitions instead of nurturing innovation.

What do you think about SK Telecom’s user guidance to treat A. like a “close friend”? Let us know in the comments below.

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