Maekyung Media Group launches audio news service with AI voice

South Korea’s Maekyung Media Group will launch an audio news service featuring an artificial intelligence (AI) voice of Kim Ju-ha, a main anchor at Maeil Broadcasting Network Inc. (MBN), for readers on Wednesday.

The audio news service is provided during commuting hours, when news consumption is highest, making it convenient for users to listen while driving or traveling on public transport.

Readers who have downloaded the Maeil Business Newspaper app and agreed to receive app push notifications can receive carefully selected audio news from Maeil Business Newspaper three times a day on weekdays (8 a.m., 2 p.m., 8 p.m.) and once a day on weekends and public holidays (8 p.m.).

Maekyung Media Group aims to lead media innovation with its reader-friendly news service in the era of media mix, where people around the world consume various contents such as text, video, and audio.

The AI audio news, previously available only for major news, is now also applied to ‘Maessage’ content, a news briefing service that summarizes key items from morning news.

The AI voice of Kim has been created using the technology of Neosapience Inc., a local company specializing in AI voice services. The company’s mTypeCast technology, which converts text into audio content, creates Kim’s voice which sounds exactly like the real anchor.