An AI competition hosted by Kakao, open to both developers and the general public, has become a topic of conversation for its storytelling techniques reminiscent of escape room games. It is being evaluated as breaking away from the conventional framework of existing competitions that simply involved developing apps or services, instead presenting a vision of an "open AI ecosystem."
According to Kakao on Monday, Kakao Impact, a public interest foundation under Kakao, held online preliminaries for the AI hackathon 'AI_TOP_100' (hereinafter referred to as the Kakao Hackathon) on the 31st of last month. A hackathon is a portmanteau of "hacking" and "marathon," referring to a development competition where participants implement ideas into services within a limited time frame.
Kakao presented the task of transforming a fictional "Gyodong Village" through AX (AI Transformation). Participants were required to directly interview more than 10 virtual characters set as village residents, collect information such as contact details, and then complete a KakaoTalk AI agent for customer service (CS). Unlike previous hackathons that posed the simple task of "developing a CS AI agent," this competition was designed to evaluate the ability to independently identify and solve problems.
The virtual characters each had distinct personalities requiring different responses, and participants also had to find a hidden character known as the "Promotion Girl." The status of information collection was displayed as a "Knowledge Discovery Rate" for each character. Reactions poured in on social networking services (SNS) such as X and Threads, as well as internet developer communities, stating that there was an immersive feel similar to playing an escape room game or "Crime Scene" (a mystery variety show).
Participants were allowed to use AI tools of their preference without restriction, provided they adhered to the rules announced in advance. One participant shared their impressions through an online post, stating, "I learned the lesson that properly establishing AI automation procedures is important," and added, "In my haste, I made the mistake of running inadequate AI and wasting time."
This hackathon also aligns with the "open AI agent ecosystem" strategy being pursued by Kakao. Kakao presented an AI vision aimed at integrating AI agents created by external companies or individual developers into its own AI services and platforms, while expanding A2A (Agent-to-Agent) connectivity. Kakao aims to unveil a service connecting externally developed AI agents to KakaoTalk in the first half of next year.
The event also has the effect of enhancing brand image. Another participant said, "I thought Kakao was a company somewhat distant from AI technology, but my perception changed through this hackathon, and I now admire them again." Kakao plans to operate an official open chat room composed of finalists, which is expected to help secure a network of AI talent. For Kakao, whose goal is building an open platform, the activation of the domestic AI developer ecosystem itself is also welcome news.
The Kakao Hackathon will conduct preliminary reviews until the 3rd, select 100 finalists on November 4, and notify them individually via email. Subsequently, the offline finals will be held on the 21st at the Kakao AI Campus in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province. The total prize pool is 125 million won, with awards including: Grand Prize/Minister of Science and ICT Award (1 winner) with a prize of 30 million won; Gold Prize/Kakao CEO Award (2 winners) with a prize of 0.1 billion won each; Silver Prize (3 winners) with a prize of 5 million won each; and Bronze Prize (4 winners) with a prize of 2.5 million won each. All 100 finalists will also receive an AI tool support grant of 500,000 won.
A Kakao Impact official stated, "While the previous competition focused on solving given problems quickly and accurately using AI, this time we plan to judge how appropriately the AI agents created by defining problems and combining clues function in real-world situations."
in TECH
