'AI Choi Kyung-Joo' Appears at SKT Open 2023... From Broadcasting to Lessons

SK Telecom announced on the 16th that it will introduce a variety of AI-based advanced media technologies in large scale at the ‘SK Telecom Open 2023,’ held from the 18th to the 21st at Jeju Pinx GC, offering new attractions for viewers and gallery visitors.

The ‘SK Telecom Open’ applies SKT’s information and communication technology (ICT) to golf tournaments each year, showcasing the fusion of technology and sports. This year, gallery visitors at the venue will be able to experience SKT’s AI technologies and services applied throughout the tournament site, while various technologies have also been implemented for TV and mobile viewers to watch the games in a newer and more convenient way.

AI human 'AI Choi Kyung-ju Co-Executive Chairman,' utilizing SKT's voice synthesis technology and DeepBrain AI's face swap technology, delivers various tournament information such as round-by-round viewing points to viewers on the broadcast screen.
[Photo by SKT]

'AI' Choi Kyung-ju Co-Executive Chairman Delivers Game Information and Viewing Points

The most eye-catching attempt in this tournament is that Co-Executive Chairman Choi Kyung-ju will appear as an AI human during the tournament broadcast and on-site. The ‘AI Choi Kyung-ju Co-Executive Chairman’ delivers various game information such as round-by-round viewing points to viewers on the live broadcast screen. The development of ‘AI Choi Kyung-ju’ utilized SKT’s voice synthesis technology and DeepBrain AI’s face swap technology. Based on facial and voice data extracted from past videos of player Choi Kyung-ju, human modeling technology was combined with SKT’s voice synthesis TTS (Text to Speech) engine.

Additionally, a documentary featuring the ‘Boy AI Choi Kyung-ju,’ restored by AI during the broadcast, meeting and conversing with the real Choi Kyung-ju player, will be aired. For player Choi Kyung-ju, who lost most of his childhood photos in a past fire, SKT’s AI image restoration technology ‘Supernova’ and voice synthesis technology that analyzes and reproduces vocal tone were used to recreate the face and voice of the ‘Boy AI Choi Kyung-ju’ in video form. The restoration process of ‘Boy AI Choi Kyung-ju’ applied Media Reenactment technology, which can generate videos from a single photo, adding depth and lifelike motion to the two-dimensional black-and-white graduation photo.

Meanwhile, at the tournament site, the ‘AI Choi Kyung-ju’ is linked with Golfzon GDR (Golfzone Driving Range) technology to offer an ‘AI Human One-Point Lesson’ service to gallery visitors. In the event space set up at the Gallery Plaza, when visitors hit a ball, ‘AI Choi Kyung-ju’ provides analysis results of the participant’s swing and shot.

Integration of Media Technologies Including ‘A. tv’ Golf-Dedicated Service

SKT incorporated new media technologies into the broadcast of the ‘SK Telecom Open 2023,’ allowing each viewer to watch optimized screens and information tailored to their preferences. To this end, a golf-dedicated service was added to A. tv, providing AI-generated highlights for each player, while enabling viewers to check ranking information and player performance individually.

Plus Bar is a real-time multi-source TV service that delivers AI highlights, overall rankings, player information, and individual scores during the broadcast. It was first applied domestically to B tv’s ‘SK Telecom Open 2022’ broadcast last year and won the Minister of Science and ICT Award at the 2022 Radio and Broadcasting Technology Awards. SKT collaborates with the tournament’s main broadcasters JTBC Golf and the Korea Professional Golfers' Association (KPGA) to provide the Plus Bar service to about 5.8 million households watching SK Broadband B tv.

At the tournament site’s Gallery Plaza, a space is also prepared where visitors can efficiently view various golf-related information on vertical screens such as mobile devices via A., and access game information through B tv’s Plus Bar.

O Kyung-sik, head of SK Telecom’s sports marketing, said, “We have prepared to let golf fans feel AI technology approaching their daily lives through new and diverse experiences such as AI humans,” adding, “We plan to continue various attempts to combine artificial intelligence technology in the fields of sports and media.”

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