Naver unveiled its artificial intelligence (AI) search service 'AI Briefing' on the 26th. Naver had been operating its conversational AI search service 'Q' since 2023, but it had been offered in beta form to a limited number of users. This is the first official launch of an AI search service.
AI Briefing summarizes information related to places, content, and the latest internet trends at the top of the page when searching for specific keywords. One advantage is that it displays real-time keywords that are currently attracting users' attention at a glance. It was convenient as users no longer had to click on links from direct searches to verify information.
However, it was disappointing that AI search results were rare compared to competitors like Google. Since AI analysis results for most keywords could not be checked, it was difficult to feel the service's convenience. I tried using Naver's AI Briefing feature.
◇ Summary of movie plots to tourist attractions
Naver's 'official and multi-source' AI Briefing is a feature that analyzes various web documents collected by the search engine and summarizes information from multiple sources along with answers. When one wants to know about information regarding the latest movies or dramas or internet trends, it can be grasped in seconds.
I searched for the plot of the popular Netflix drama 'When Life Gives You Tangerines'. Then, the AI summarized the overall story with the description, "A love story capturing the four seasons of a poor yet spirited girl, O Ae-soon, and a quiet boy, Yang Gwan-sik, set in 1950s Jeju Island."
When I searched for the meaning of the internet meme 'Chill guy', it responded with, "'Chillguy' is a character created by digital artist Philip Banks, symbolizing a relaxed and easygoing attitude."
'Short content' AI Briefing is a function that helps quickly grasp the main points by summarizing content and then checking for additional information from the original content. When searching for 'When Life Gives You Tangerines', the 'drama short content' tab was activated. Clicking this tab provided major news related to the drama that is currently attracting people's attention, such as 'The reason IU shed tears at the wedding' and 'Coupang HBO rating rank drama recommendations', summarizing various information on one page. It was convenient as it allowed for a quick grasp of trends similar to Naver's past real-time search feature.
'Place-type' AI Briefing helps users deeply explore information related to specific areas. When I searched for the term 'Osaka travel', it provided a concise explanation regarding the Osaka area, must-try foods, nighttime attractions, and easily accessible accommodations, organized by category. Information about other Japanese travel destinations such as Tokyo and Kyoto could also be checked. This feature allows for a quick understanding of the destination before traveling.
◇ Searching for 10 keywords brings results for only 1 or 2
Although it has various features, it was disappointing that obtaining results analyzed by AI was generally difficult. For example, while it provided an analysis of the plot for 'When Life Gives You Tangerines', it did not have AI analysis results for the other 7 dramas among the Netflix top 10 (as of March), excluding 'Witch' and 'Queen of Tears'. It provided information about travel destinations like 'Osaka', 'Tokyo', and 'Kyoto', but did not offer information on other popular international destinations like Da Nang, Vietnam, or major domestic travel spots such as Busan and Jeju.
Generally, searching for 10 keywords would allow you to see AI analysis results for only 1 or 2. Even if you desire AI Briefing analysis results, it is hard to predict if actual information can be obtained, which makes it feel less useful at this stage.
With Google's AI search service 'AI Overview', available since December of last year, more information could be obtained. Although Google does not provide analysis for all keywords, the probability of getting the desired results was higher than with Naver. By adding the word 'reason' to the keywords, it generally shows AI analysis results.
It provided desired results when searching for various keywords in fields such as 'The reason for hunger', 'The reason Voldemort tries to harm Harry Potter', 'The reason BTS is popular overseas', and 'The reason Son Heung-min went to Tottenham'.
Choi Byung-ho, a professor at Korea University Artificial Intelligence Research Institute, noted, "When implementing AI search services, it is important to gather and integrate fragmented data from the portal," adding, "This increases the likelihood that the AI can recognize various search terms and produce accurate analysis." He further stated, "It is presumed that Naver's search service has either not properly carried out this data integration task or that its model’s performance is lower than that of other companies."
Naver stated that it plans to expand the range of its AI Briefing services in the future. However, it seems challenging to become a killer service that can thwart Google's rapid growth, which holds the 2nd position in domestic search share.