Kakao will roll out an interactive event that expresses pets' feelings in letters and voice using its self-developed omni-modal artificial intelligence (AI) model "Kanan-a-o."
Kakao said on the 20th it will run the "Make a Kanan-a pet letter" event through Aug. 14. When a user uploads a photo of a pet, Kanan-a-o analyzes expressions, surrounding objects, and the situation in the photo to generate a message imagining the pet's inner thoughts.
Participants enter the pet's name and their relationship to it, then register a single photo. They can then choose one of five voice tones: playful, sly, prim, affectionate, or indignant. The AI-generated letter is provided in text and voice, and is produced as a video combined with the user's uploaded photo. Completion notices are sent via the KakaoTalk channel "Kanan-a Tips."
Kanan-a-o is Kakao's proprietary AI model that can understand and process text, voice, and images together. Kakao also applied the AI safety model "Kanan-a Safeguard" to prevent inappropriate content from being generated or used.
Among participants who create a pet letter, gift certificates worth 20,000 won for KakaoTalk Gift will be awarded by drawing. Users who post the completed video on Instagram and mention the official Kanan-a account will receive additional gift certificates worth 300,000 won.
A Kakao official said, "We planned the event so users can experience AI easily and enjoyably in the process of bonding with their pets," adding, "We will continue to introduce various services that bring AI into everyday life."