There has been a lot of talk from Korean startups recently regarding AI and deep learning, and one would be forgiven for wondering whether it’s just another buzzword which some are throwing around without much thought.
But Korea’s number one food delivery app Baedal Minjok is putting its money where it’s mouth is, with Woowa Brothers announcing yesterday that it would be investing 10 billion won in a new AI project.
It’s been dubbed ‘Baemin David’, named after the character from the movie A.I. Artificial Intelligence, and its main goal is to make it easier for hungry customers to order what they want by speaking to a chatbot. It will be built to not only cater to various tastes and situations, but also learn and recognize natural language.
Baedal Minjok has actually been dabbling in AI since last year on a chatbot project called Amica in partnership with Naver — another company also investing heavily in developing new technologies. The latest move by the food startup brings its involvement with AI to a whole different level, from simply using an API to actually developing technology and integrating into it its software.
Woowa Brothers intends to combine its vast database of ordering data with commonly used expressions to develop an app that can recognize naturally spoken voice orders. If successful, it will look to partner with other major companies who are working with AI to share its capabilities in the food ordering area.
Company CTO Beomjun Kim, a graduate from KAIST, is leading the Baemin David project. Kim has extensive experience, having previously managed big data projects at major tech firms NCsoft and SK Planet. He will be tasked with putting together a special team of top developers and also hiring leading AI specialists to move the project along at speed.
“Now that the 4th industrial revolution is approaching our lives, we need innovation in the foodtech industry once more,” says CEO Bong-jin Kim.
“In addition to artificial intelligence, Baedal Minjok is actively seeking ways to help improve customer experiences and make food more enjoyable,” said Kim.
