Adding a Human Touch to AI: LG’s Affectionate Intelligence
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By News Reporter
In this installment of On the Job, we go inside LG Labs, LG’s marketing platform established to deliver experimental and innovative product and service experiences to its customers. We’re here to learn more about how it brings one-of-a-kind products and service experiences to customers.
As it transforms into a younger and innovative company, LG is fully committed to delivering a consistent supply of groundbreaking products and technologies that appeal to the younger generation. Playing a key role in this shift is LG Labs, a platform established to push the limits of innovation and turn imagination into reality by doing something that doesn’t come natural to most – thinking outside the box.
Since making its world debut at CES 2023, LG Labs has been presenting some of the most experimental and innovative products and services to global customers. Set up to bring a younger and more innovative feel to the LG brand, LG Labs’ purpose is to develop products that resonate with the younger generation, helping it build strong and lasting brand values that will be crucial to sustaining its leadership status into the future.
“If we discover an innovative idea that can provide new, unique experiences to customers, it doesn’t matter if it is low in business priority or small in market size,” explained Kong Dae-won, leader of LG Labs. “Even before launch, LG Labs actively engages with real customers through various channels and considers their honest feedback, providing us more opportunities to bring our potentially game-changing ideas to life.”
(From left to right) Kong Dae-won, leader of LG labs, and Woo Hyung-bihn, specialist at LG Labs
To decide which product to develop, LG Labs brings together experts from LG Global Marketing Group, Design Management Center, CX Center, Quality Management Center and other related departments. The questions every LG Labs expert must ask themself are: Is this something we’ve never tried before? Is it a new concept for the industry? And does it have business potential?
For example, DukeBox, which was unveiled at
link hidden, please login to view, creates an entirely new product category and unique music experience by combining a vacuum tube motif with Transparent OLED tech. In fact, despite launching only a year ago, LG Labs has already invented several never-before-seen products including , Bon Voyage and brid.zzz. Bon Voyage featured at Wanderlust Korea
“We felt it was important to bring our innovations to customers directly and provide the opportunity to experience our innovative ideas in person,” said Kong Dae-won. “Over the past year, brid.zzz, Bon Voyage and DUOBO were featured in the LG Labs experience zone at offline events in South Korea, including Wanderlust Korea, Isegye Festival and Go Out Camp Festival. As a result, we were able to reach more than 40,000 customers and received invaluable feedback from more than 2,000 visitors.”
This year’s CES LG Labs booth was twice the size of last year’s booth, and the response from visitors was twice the scale as well. DukeBox was a big hit, especially with the big music labels in attendance as it fit seamlessly with their content and music. As a result, LG is currently in talks with a famous label on a potential collaboration that would undoubtedly strike a chord with young music fans.
LG Labs offline experience zone at Isegye Festival in Korea
Beginning last year, LG started focusing on targeting younger customers. This year, it’s taking things a step further by entering their social and online channels to generate more engagement. By leveraging the influence of creators who resonate with the younger demographic, LG plans to adopt an online and offline hybrid marketing strategy to communicate the new and exciting experiences of LG Labs’ products. This includes expanding its experience events overseas.
LG Labs aims to expand the company’s future business portfolio while encouraging both executives and employees to challenge convention by fostering an organizational culture that welcomes and rewards it. There’s much more to come from LG Labs over the coming years, so watch this space for more inventions designed to make life good!
Stay tuned to the to find out what other LG teams and employees are getting up to.
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By haptrail
I have an LG C2 Web OS TV and a Roku Ultra Model 4670RW. The Roku comes with an option called "1-touch play" which allows you to switch the TV from between devices connected to other HDMI 2.1 inputs. I have a Roku in one input, a DVD player in another, and a Directv Streaming box in another. With this same setup on a Vizio V435-H11 TV, I am able to press the home/play buttons on the Roku remote and no matter which input I'm watching, it will switch to the Roku. Same with pressing remote buttons on the DVD player and Directv remotes - the TV will switch to that device. But with the LG C2 TV, none of the switching takes place when pressing the same buttons on the remotes for the other devices. I have enabled the "1-touch play" on the Roku remote (settings/system/control other devices/1-touch play), and I have enabled the IR Setup (settings/Remotes & Devices/Remotes/Enhanced Voice Remote/Setup Remote for TV Control/IR setup). I cannot enable the CEC setup on the Roku Remote, but that doesn't affect the 1-touch play switching function on the Vizio TV so I don't think that plays into the limitation on the LG C2. I have also enabled the CEC (Simplink) function on the LG C2 (General/Devices/HDMI Settings/Simplink (HDMI-CEC)). I've read some solutions online and have done a system restart on the Roku as well as disconnecting all devices from power, disconnecting all the HDMI cables, waiting 5 minutes, and reconnecting all. I am using all new 2.1 HDMI compatible cables. Any body else having this problem with using a Roku Ultra and an LG C2 TV and found a solution? Thanks! -
By News Reporter
According to a
link hidden, please login to view conducted by the career website Indeed, 73 percent of respondents replied that they missed socializing with colleagues while working remotely. Given that some aspects of remote working may be around for the long term, LG and came up with a creative way to bring remote LG workers – as well as friends and family – together to promote teamwork and camaraderie in the spirit of healthy competition.
The LG UltraGear LoL Cup tournament invited LG Electronics’ employees and their families to battle it out in the globally popular online multiplayer game, . The event gave LG employees of all ages and locations the opportunity to connect with one another and experience the culture of esports. The event included free coaching sessions courtesy of Gen.G Global Academy and gave all gamers the opportunity to experience LG’s latest products.
The tournament ran from August to October, attracting a total of 68 teams consisting of 340 players. Winners received gaming-related prizes including UltraGear laptops, monitors and speakers. The event included a “family camp” with the purpose of creating lasting memories with gaming as the backdrop. Gaming and non-gaming staff alike could take part in a number of activities, such as League of Legends classes for kids, lively talk shows and live broadcasts featuring eports legends.
As long-time supporter of esports, the tournament was another creative way for LG to introduce more people to the exciting world of gaming. Through its partnership with Gen.G, one of the most influential esports organizations in the world, LG has been able to connect to the top gamers in the world to get their valued input on new UltraGear gaming products under development. The respect LG has for its gaming fans is reciprocated in kind.
Esports are no longer just for serious gamers or a hobby for only Millennials and Gen Z. The growing esports audience is expected to reach approximately globally by 2024. With dedicated TV channels and platforms such as Twitch, Periscope and Smashcast, gaming content has already surpassed many traditional sports in terms of popularity.
“Through esports, we’re able to bring coworkers together and experience teamwork in more creative ways,” said Kim Jung-jin, a member of the winning team. “We have new opportunities to meet colleagues from different departments across all strata of the company. Fostering that sense of unity is very important for everyone’s wellbeing.”
“I particularly loved the education sessions, where my son and I learned the basics of League of Legends,” said Woo Jung-ho, another participant. “The tournament has really sparked my interest in gaming and changed my perception to gaming culture. I used to think gaming was just for the younger generations. I think other organizations could benefit from this kind of outside the box activity.”
The LG UltraGear LoL Cup tournament for employees demonstrated that technology isn’t just useful for remote working but for remote family fun as well. Through this experience, LG is convinced that there are more untapped opportunities for creating lasting memories during these transformational times.
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By News Reporter
In this final episode of our six-part AI Experience series, we examine the dynamics of the human-AI relationship and what that will mean for the evolution of the technology.
Throughout history, humans have always been masters of the technologies and machines they have created. But with artificial intelligence, the dynamics of this relationship may change. Distinct from other technologies in that it can learn from interactions and usages, AI is perhaps most recognizable today as the virtual assistants we call by name when we want something, whether that be information or the kitchen lights to turn off. As AI continues to evolve, it is expected to outgrow this role as helper to become more of a companion.
Even now, AI-enabled devices are able to provide some degree of companionship. For the elderly or others living on their own, products such as smart speakers can offer a valuable sense of connection, responding verbally to queries in more conversational ways. Beyond the comfort of another voice and the feeling of a sympathetic (and synthetic) ear, AI machines can also provide a degree of safety by connecting users to relevant services when needed. If we take that one step further, AI systems will in the future be able to perceive changes in our behavior to determine our moods and respond appropriately, making it easy for humans to forget that they’re still communicating with a machine.
Below, we take a look at five different areas concerning the constantly evolving relationship between humans and AI.
Collaboration
Human-AI collaboration is already having an impact on how we perform tasks and make decisions, although its scope is somewhat limited at this time. Once the technology has reached a certain point where we can better understand context, motivation and non-verbal cues, AI will then be able to contribute to genuinely collaborative endeavors, meaningfully helping us to increase our capabilities and knowledge in almost every arena imaginable.
“We are all interesting creatures, not because we exist in a vacuum and we can just think on ourselves, we’re interesting because we interact with others,” said Charles Lee Isbell Jr., dean of computing at Georgia Institute of Technology. “We learn by interacting with others, they get transferred knowledge generation to generation. And I think that is sort of where the sweet spot is around AI.”
Learning
Collection of data is crucial to machine learning and its continuing improvement. Going forward, it’s critical that what AI learns should be made as transparent as possible. Experts from a diverse range of disciplines should be actively involved throughout AI’s development to ensure the learning process itself is robust, representative and ethically sound. Learning about AI and its implications is something everyone – not just those directly involved in its creation – should invest time in, as education may help us to predict and avert future challenges and threats.
Professor Zafiroglu of 3A Institute advocates a multidisciplinary approach, urging the next generation of AI practitioners to “go out into the world and work in a variety of settings, from policy and industry to academia and education at the non-university level to think tanks as well as product and strategy teams.” Incorporating different perspectives and learnings into AI will help to forge intelligent systems that can work with, as well as for us.
Empathy
Having empathy means the ability to understand and share someone else’s feelings, a distinctly human trait. For AI to be able to detect the emotional state of a user and respond appropriately, it will need the capacity to recognize body language, tone of voice and most probably, physiological changes. Once it can do all of these things, and accurately interpret the demands of the specific context, AI will become immeasurably more helpful. For instance, recognizing an individual’s concern about a job interview, an empathetic AI could help alleviate this concern by generating a list of interview questions, providing feedback on answers or recommending the optimal route to the interview venue.
With the obvious benefits of an AI with high emotional quotient also come considerable risks with regards to privacy so a safety net should be put in place to prevent its misuse. The European Union and many governments worldwide are currently addressing the question of how to ensure effective oversight for high risk AI technologies. At the same time, the companies providing these technologies will need to demonstrate that next to delivering value, user safety is their main concern.
Fallibility
As with any relationship, the human-AI relationship will require time and effort to develop properly. Humans must accept that AI will take a certain amount of time to learn from and adapt to their behaviors and preferences and to acquire new skills. Users should also understand that fallibility is not a one way street as AI is learning from them. Users also have to contend with any biases, preconceptions or misconceptions they may have, which can affect the nature or outcome of an interaction.
Whether AI incorporates bias purposefully or not, we must consider the consequential nature of decisions that AI systems are making. Either way, our relationship with AI will be just like our relationship with each other. In other words, it’s going to take time and effort.
Interface
The way we interact with an AI solution is directly influenced by the design of its interface. Some forms of AI are more collaborative in nature, requiring frequent human input to deliver maximum value, while others run quietly in the background, automating our lives and supporting us with infrequent interaction. Different types of systems obviously necessitate different kinds of interfaces but it must ultimately be intuitive to use if it is to gain greater acceptance and wider adoption. Along with ease of use, interoperability is something that companies must work towards if AI is to flow seamlessly from one area of our lives to another.
“There are no standards of interoperability,” states Gabi Zijdervel, chief marketing officer and head of product strategy at Affectiva. “I believe a consortium of industry will have to come together to solve this, cross-vertical and cross-use cases.”
Although some still fear that AI will replace actual humans, the more likely future is one companionship and partnership. With the foundation already in place, we can look forward to a more equal and rewarding relationship with AI, not to mention a shining new chapter in the history of humankind.
For more on this topic, visit
link hidden, please login to view. Developers and potential partners interested in LG’s ThinQ Platform should check out . # # #
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