[Report] “An Era Where Even News Is Curated” — In-Car AI Delivers Daily Briefings

AI identifies personal preferences to deliver tailored news... Aplayz unveils at 'CES 2024'

(Las Vegas = Yonhap News) Reporter Kim Bo-kyung — On the 11th (local time), at the Venetian Expo’s Eureka Park, where CES 2024, the world’s largest electronics and IT exhibition, was held.

Among the more than 2,000 startups gathered from around the world, Hyundai Motor Group’s open innovation platform, Zer01ne, showcased booths with 11 startups it had nurtured or supported.

At the front of the exhibition was the booth of ‘Aplayz,’ a startup that provides services selecting and playing customized music for different spaces using artificial intelligence (AI) technology.

Upon entering the booth, a 15-inch display reading “APLAYZ in-car infotainment” immediately caught the eye.

Standing before the display with the demonstrator, the AI greeted the participant by name using voice recognition. The screen then displayed sections for Music, News, Schedule, Weather, and Daily Fortune.

When the News section was selected, English-language golf and economics news articles from Yonhap News appeared in sequence on the screen, which the AI read aloud in a natural-sounding voice.

This setup contrasted with the usual format of newspapers or online portals, where political or social news typically appears first.

When asked why, the demonstrator explained that the AI observes the user’s voice and behavioral patterns to determine personal preferences and then delivers customized news content accordingly.

In this case, the demonstrator had recently started playing golf, and the AI detected this interest, presenting golf-related news stories.

According to reports, one foreign visitor was surprised when BTS news appeared in her News section, exclaiming, “How did it know I like BTS?”

When entering the Music section, ballads and classical tracks began playing in succession—once again reflecting the user’s preferences.

Reporter Kim Bo-kyung (vivid@yna.co.kr) [[On-site Report] “An era of personalized news listening”… AI delivers ‘Daily Briefing’ inside the car], Yonhap News, January 21, 2024