A promotional image of KakaoTalk's artificial intelligence public service assistant / Courtesy of Kakao
Kakao, the operator of Korea’s dominant messaging app, said Thursday that it upgraded its "AI (artificial intelligence) Public Assistant" pilot service to include voice functionality and integrated booking features. The development, led by CEO Chung Shin-a, allows users to complete the entire process of reserving public facilities without ever leaving the KakaoTalk interface.
The AI Public Assistant is a conversational agent developed in partnership with the Ministry of the Interior and Safety that launched in March. By accessing the "Kookmin Secretary Guppi" channel within the app, people can issue electronic certificates and book public infrastructure without installing additional software.
This latest update shifts the user experience from text-based input to natural language voice commands. Users can now simply say "Issue my resident registration certificate" or "Book a tennis court" to execute administrative tasks.
Technologically, the service is built upon Kakao’s proprietary AI models. To ensure the high level of trust required for government services, the company has implemented the "Kanana Safeguard," a dedicated AI guardrail model designed to maintain safety and reliability.
The update also streamlines the logistics of public reservations. While users were previously redirected to external services to finalize bookings, they can now handle everything from location discovery to final confirmation within a single chat window.
Accessibility has been further improved by placing a dedicated icon for the assistant within the "More" tab of the KakaoTalk app for immediate use. According to Yu Yong-ha, Kakao’s AI Connect Performance leader, the company intends to expand the scope of these services from simple guidance to active execution.
Looking ahead, Kakao said it plans to evolve the assistant into a proactive, intelligent service that suggests relevant public resources to users based on their specific situations.
This article was published with the assistance of generative AI and edited by The Korea Times.
Source: Korea Times News
