Naver, Wattpad, University of Toronto work on AI tech

Naver, Wattpad and the University of Toronto signed an agreement to develop artificial intelligence (AI) technology to be used for content services, Naver said Monday. Naver and its web novel subsidiary Wattpad will spend 5 million ...

Naver's chief financial officer (CFO) Kim Nam-sun, left, and Alex Mihailidis, Associate Vice-President of International Partnerships in University of Toronto, pose after signing an agreement to develop artificial intelligence technology for Naver's web novel platform Wattpad. [NAVER]

Naver, Wattpad and the University of Toronto signed an agreement to develop artificial intelligence (AI) technology to be used for content services, Naver said Monday.

Naver and its web novel subsidiary Wattpad will spend 5 million Canadian dollars ($3.7 million) over the next five years to conduct research with the University of Toronto on natural language processing (NLP), or the study of how computers understand and process human language, and human-computer interaction (HCI).

The NLP research will focus on getting the program to understand what each novel is about and summarize them to recommend to users. In HCI research, engineers will develop a user-friendly interface and creative tools for authors.

The technology will be used by Wattpad to provide better service to users, Naver said.

“The partnership with Naver and Wattpad is a landmark corporate partnership,” said Alex Mihailidis, Associate Vice-President of International Partnerships at the University of Toronto.

“It allows us to pair the support of a Toronto-based business in Wattpad with the global ambitions of their corporate parent, Naver, all while combining two of the University of Toronto’s greatest strengths in computing: artificial intelligence and human-computer interaction.”

“We will develop a next-generation, user-interactive content platform with our AI technologies, allowing users to easily create quality content and discover interesting stories,” said Ha Jung-woo, Naver’s AI Lab director.

BY YOON SO-YEON [yoon.soyeon@joongang.co.kr]