The Most Searched Singer by AI Voice Assistants is 'Bangtan Sonyeondan'

[Asia Economy Reporter Seulgina Cho] SK Telecom's artificial intelligence (AI) assistant 'NUGU' users searched for the most popular singer this year, which was 'Bangtan Sonyeondan (BTS)'. The most listened-to song was Zico's 'Any Song,' which sparked a challenge craze.

According to SK Telecom on the 17th, an analysis of the rankings in six categories?▲most used services ▲emotional conversations ▲music ▲news ▲information search ▲recipes?based on the keywords most spoken by NUGU users from the beginning of this year until the end of November showed these results.

The most used service by NUGU users was navigation (T map x NUGU). This was followed by Btv, which turns the TV on and off or changes channels, music listening, phone calls, and weather. SK Telecom stated, "The most frequent phrase users said to NUGU was 'thank you,'" adding, "There were many conversations where users greeted or expressed gratitude before and after using the service." Users in their teens and twenties tended to seek comfort through everyday stories such as 'I hate Mondays,' 'I ate alone again,' and 'I'm sad,' while those in their 40s to 60s showed usage patterns looking for fun elements like games.

The singer most searched by NUGU users was BTS, who dominated the Billboard charts. They were followed by Pinkfong and IU. Lim Young-woong (4th), Youngtak (5th), and Na Hoon-a (8th) ranked, proving the trot fever. Popular girl groups such as TWICE (7th) and BLACKPINK (9th) also appeared in the top ranks. Additionally, the most listened-to song was Zico's 'Any Song,' with 'Banana Chacha' and 'Pororo' ranking 2nd and 3rd respectively, showcasing the enduring popularity of the 'Pororo' character.

The news most searched by the largest number of users was, unsurprisingly, 'COVID-19 (Coronavirus Disease 2019).' Typhoon-related news also showed high search volumes. The most searched sports star was 'Son Heung-min.'

Furthermore, as the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic increased the time spent at home, users' usage of NUGU recipes also surged. The most searched recipe was 'Tteokbokki.'

SK Telecom's NUGU is applied not only to AI speakers but also to various devices such as IPTV and navigation systems. The company explained that since the usage environment differs by device, the most frequently used commands also showed differences. The NUGU speaker, mainly used at home, had 'play lullaby' as the most common voice command, while for Btv, commands like 'find remote,' 'turn off TV' were frequent, and for T phone, commands such as 'cancel' and 'answer the call' were common. For T map, commands related to driving routes like 'let's go home' ranked first.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.