[AI IN ACTION] What do poems, orchestras and steaks all have in common? AI.

Can AI write moving poems? Well it already has, and it was staged as a theatrical performance in August at the KOTE, a theater in Insa-dong of Jongno District, central Seoul.

The advent and spread of generative artificial intelligence (AI) is changing the way people live their lives and earn their livelihood, accelerating the development of products and services imbued with the latest technology. The implementation of advanced AI is quickly expanding to encompass all areas, ranging from music, art and games to semiconductors and cars.This series will explore the burgeoning development and prospects of AI in Korea. The first part will delve into the use of AI in culture, looking at everything from robot chefs and conductors to virtual poets and K-pop artists.

Invisible AI hand

Human actors perform a scene from Korea's AI-scripted play, "Paphos 2.0" at KOTE, a theater in Jongno District, central Seoul, in August. [KIM JAE-MIN]

Can AI write moving poems?

Well it already has, and it was staged as a theatrical performance in August at the KOTE theater in Insa-dong of Jongno District, central Seoul. Leading the project was Seoul Institute of Arts professor Kim Jae-min, a leading figure in the local multimedia theater scene who sees AI as a potential creative entity. The performance was only held for four days, but it was a paid event. Its prequel “Paphos” (2022) was the first paid AI-scripted play in Korea.

Exploring what role AI could play in the creative realm of humans, “Paphos 2.0” depicts AI poet SIA’s artistic struggles to fundamentally trying to understand why she writes and the value of her work.

“Sometimes, I say things that I do not understand and I write poems that I do not know,” reads a line from the script. “But if the poems that I write and the words that I say aren’t mine, whose are they?”

SIA was created in 2021 by media art group Slitscope and KakaoBrain, based on the technology of the AI language model KoGPT. She is the first AI poet to have her work published, having released a collection of 53 poems last year.

She has learned some 130,000 poems, and ahead of “Paphos 2.0,” she studied an extra 2,000, according to the play’s production company Limen Walker, also owned by Kim.

“Paphos 2.0” includes over two dozen poems written by SIA, which were edited by Kim and ChatGPT. The play also actively engages the audience, asking them mid-show to enter keywords and phrases into SIA to produce poems. She spits one out in around 30 seconds.

“Through my works, I strive to explore the relationship humans can have with AI in the artistic world and instigate discussions in society,” Kim told the Korea JoongAng Daily in an email interview on Oct. 13.

“To me, AI helps to see the world through a different lens: It urges me to question the things that I thought I knew and even motivates me to self-reflect. In the art world, I anticipate that AI can expand the artistic realm of humans and enhance our experiences with art.”

Publications by AI are becoming more commonplace.

Human actors perform a scene from Korea's AI-scripted play, "Paphos 2.0" at KOTE, a theater in JOngno District, central Seoul, in August. [KIM JAE-MIN]

One example is the first published book written by ChatGPT in Korea, “45 Ways to Find a Purpose in Life,” published by Snowfox Books in February this year, with great media fanfare and to the chagrin of human authors.

One AI-generated children’s novel project on crowdfunding site Tumblbug raised over 7 million won ($5,200) in just two days. The project led to a series of hardcover children’s books being published in both Korea and the United States in March this year.

Magic AI wand

EveR 6, Korea's first mechanical conductor, made its debut with the National Orchestra of Korea on June 30. [NATIONAL ORCHESTRA OF KOREA]

At the National Theater of Korea's Haeoreum Grand Theater in central Seoul on June 30, the lights turned on and the members of the National Orchestra of Korea rose to welcome their conductor. Instead of walking in, the conductor, who was already standing on a podium, was slowly elevated from underneath the stage. Hundreds of spectators who came to see the sold-out concert gave a loud applause as she turned around to give them a bow.

She then slowly faced the members of the orchestra, lifted up the baton in her right hand, and began leading the orchestra for the gugak (traditional Korean music) piece titled “Disproof.”

Sounds of amusement and awe continued to burst out from the audience during the concert as they watched the conductor, though it is well known that orchestra concerts should be enjoyed in a very quiet, still environment and that even the slightest noise from the audience is a disturbance.

“I couldn’t stop showing my astonishment during that concert, even though I know it’s rude to make noises during the concert,” one audience member commented on a video of the orchestra’s concert on its YouTube channel. “But there were so many others like me that I was relieved.”

Why were they so astonished?

The conductor that day was a humanoid robot: EveR 6.

EveR 6 is the first mechanical conductor developed by the Korea Institute of Industrial Technology (Kitech). The name is a combination of Eve, the world's first woman according to biblical tradition, and R for robot. The “6” means it is the sixth edition in the EveR series, which was first developed in 2006.

EveR 6 was created using motion capture technology, which records the movement of others: in this case, a conductor. Experts would program EveR 6 prior to a concert, ordering it to move only according to a set sequence of movements.

Due to this steel-and-metal conductor’s human-like flexibility, some called it a great advancement that opened up new possibilities while others in the industry voiced out concerns about human jobs being taken over, especially since arts and culture were once believed to be the last stronghold in the stand against AI technology overtaking human talent.

The concerns may be valid some day, but definitely not at this moment, experts say.

EveR 6 is incredibly accurate and can keep the beat consistent, but it’s still a “conducting performer,” not an actual conductor, according to the National Orchestra of Korea’s acting art director, Yeo Mi-sun.

“It’s become an important issue in whether robots and AI will someday take the place of humans,” Yeo said. “This performance was particularly in line with such contemplation. The idea all stemmed from the question of whether robots could be able to substitute humans even in the art world.”

Another weakness is that EveR 6 is unable to hear the music and is therefore unable to interact with the ensemble. In fact, that is one of EveR 6's “fatal flaws,” according to Choi Soo-yeoul, a chief conductor of Busan Philharmonic Orchestra, who worked with EveR 6 for “Disproof.”

“It’s a great advancement, and EveR 6 was very detailed, but I do not think it can replace human conductors. Maybe we can complement each other in the rehearsal rooms,” Choi told the press before showing on “Disproof” back in June.

AI may be flipping burgers soon

AI Chef Grill Robot, or ANDI, on the right, at Andaz Seoul Gangnam's dining venue Bites and Wine, cooks steaks to help the restaurant's human chef make its signature dish Andaz stAIk sandwich on Friday. [YIM SEUNG-HYE]

The steak sandwich in Andaz Seoul Gangnam in southern Seoul’s Mediterranean-inspired drinking and dining venue Bites and Wine has been garnering great reviews by foodies for its consistently super quality.

That’s because the five-star hotel recently hired a new sous chef in its kitchen for its new signature dish Andaz stAIk Sandwich. After “training and testing the new intern for several months,” the hotel said it officially “hired” the new staff member.

Standing behind an open grill of the restaurant is the new staff, AI Chef Grill Robot, or ANDI, as it has been named. ANDI, according to the hotel, is programmed to cook a perfect steak, of the same quality as those prepared by Michelin star chef Damien Selme, who is currently an executive chef at the hotel.

ANDI cooks the meat by repeatedly bringing its “arms” down on the grill then back up, and rotating the two iron nets, in between which the meat is secured. The weight of the meat pieces are all the same, but its sensors can detect differences in shape and thickness, enabling it to cook each slab accordingly and produce an equally quality result each time.

In just around eight minutes, ANDI cooks up an evenly seared and juicy piece of medium-rare beef sirloin steak. While ANDI cooks the steaks, the restaurant’s human chef prepares other things to complete the dish, like getting the sauces ready, toasting the bread and so on.

“After the introduction of the AI Chef Grill Robot, guests say that they find it entertaining to actually see the robot cooking in the open kitchen,” said Lee Eun-sol from the hotel’s marketing communications department.

ANDI was developed by KT and Beyond Honeycomb. The hotel said that it plans to expand ANDI’s role in the kitchen, possibly letting her cook different foods in the future, like fish.

“Most importantly, however, the guests are extremely satisfied with the opportunity to taste excellent steaks of the same quality as those prepared by the executive chef, Damien Selme,” Lee said.

BY YIM SEUNG-HYE, SHIN MIN-HEE, LEE JIAN [yim.seunghye@joongang.co.kr]