Kakao Entertainment applies AI technology to webtoon platform

[Courtesy of Kakao Page]

Kakao Page, a webtoon and web novel platform, is now powered by artificial intelligence (AI) to recommend content tailored to readers’ preferences based on their past reading history and purchase records.

Kakao Entertainment Co. announced on Monday that it has implemented a new AI technology called Helix Curation on Kakao Page. It plans to introduce the technology to Kakao Webtoon and Tapas platforms in the future.

Helix Curation uses AI to analyze users’ purchase history, registered interests, and other relevant data to curate personalized recommendations displayed on the Kakao Page home screen.

Previously, all Kakao Page users encountered the same home screen layout. However, with this new feature, users will now see different home screens tailored to their preferred genres and favorite works.

A trial application of the curation feature conducted from February 6 to 22, targeting 40 percent of Kakao Page users, resulted in a 90 percent increase in webtoon transactions and a 61 percent increase in web novel transactions.

The click-through rates for webtoons and web novels also gained by 57 percent and 227 percent, respectively.

Kakao Entertainment launched its in-house AI brand, Helix, in the second half of last year, and Helix Curation marks its second technology after the introduction of Helix Push.

The company plans to further enhance its AI capabilities by introducing Helix Shorts, a technology that utilizes AI to create short videos, in the second quarter of this year.