The AI transition era has arrived. Driven by a rapid shift in technological paradigms, IT exhibition halls were filled with AI-based products and services. At these IT exhibitions, where one could get a preview of AI innovations transforming daily life, a silent war was unfolding to target the blossoming AI market.

The 2024 World IT Show opened on the 17th at COEX in Samseong-dong, Seoul. Held over two days, the exhibition brought together the latest ICT products and various IT solutions under the slogan "Innovation in Daily Life Created by AI."

This World IT Show was held with the participation of 446 companies and organizations from 10 countries around the world and on a scale of 1,188 booths. Leading domestic companies such as Samsung Electronics, LG Electronics, SK Telecom, KT, Kia, and Kakao, as well as rising companies that won CES 2024 Innovation Awards such as Jujanet, Little Cat, and Graphene Square, also participated.

In his opening remarks, Kang Do-hyun, the Second Vice Minister of Science and ICT, said, “A fierce war has broken out to become a pivotal nation in AI technology,” adding, “The government will prepare so that Korea can contribute to establishing a new order and norms when the AI Summit, where world leaders and companies will gather, is held in Korea in May.”

Regarding the cultivation of AI talent, Vice Minister Kang added, “While the government is striving to formulate new policies, the driving force for development and innovation lies with universities and companies, which play a pivotal role in talent development.”

■ Samsung and LG Equipped with AI... The Accelerating Current State of AI

Samsung Electronics installed a Galaxy AI phone booth and set up a space where visitors could experience the 'Galaxy AI' features of the 'Galaxy S24 series,' such as real-time interpretation, Circle to Search, and generative editing. AI services designed to overcome language barriers for consumers were unveiled, such as supporting direct conversations or calls with foreigners through 'real-time interpretation' and translating messages with 'chat assist'.

According to a Samsung official, the One UI 6.1 version, which was recently updated not only on the Galaxy S24 but also on the Galaxy S23 series, Flip 5, and Fold 5, has expanded Galaxy AI services in daily life by applying features such as Circle to Touch and real-time translation.

LG Electronics captivated attention with massive digital signage and an OLED TV hall emphasizing LG Display's capabilities. Furthermore, to showcase AI innovation in everyday life, LG unveiled the integration of Intel AI chipsets into the LG Gram, the future mobility AlphaBle, home appliances equipped with AI functions, and the LG Alpha 11 AI processor, demonstrating the current state of accelerating AI solutions.

■ SMEs and Startups Penetrating New Markets During the AI Transition A technological transition signifies a market transition. The demand for legacy technologies, excluding foundational technologies, is replaced by the demand for new technologies, leading to the blossoming of new markets. Responding to the trends of the AI transition, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and startups unveiled a wide range of diverse AI-based solutions at the World IT Show, actively striving to pioneer the early market.

Mobilint is a startup localizing on-device AI chipsets and is introducing 'ARIES,' an AI semiconductor for edge and embedded systems, to the market. Through products such as PCIe cards and standalone AI boxes based on its proprietary chips, the company implements on-device AI as a total solution, ranging from hardware to software, for applications including robots, drones, and smart cities.

Lee Jun-seong, Head of the Business Strategy Team, explained, “Our chipset can be viewed as a product with performance equivalent to the NVIDIA RTX A5000 or 3090-4090, with double the inference performance and less than half the power consumption,” emphasizing both power efficiency and cost-effectiveness.

LUCI, a robot vision solution company, has introduced an 'AI recycling sorting guide' that helps general consumers sort and dispose of easily and accurately confusing waste. This can be cited as a prime example of developing a product while considering how to apply AI technology to our daily lives.

Instant rice containers, such as Hetban, are classified as plastic, but they are marked 'OTHER' below the plastic mark. Because they are mixed plastics, even if consumers put them in recycling bins, the instant rice containers are separated at sorting facilities and treated as general waste.

The AI recycling sorting guide uses computer vision to automatically identify and guide users on over 30 types of recyclable waste that are frequently misdisposed, simply by placing them on the sorting table. This allows for the reduction of misdisposal starting from the consumer stage.

"This fact is not well known to consumers, and even if consumers diligently separate waste, various types of waste, such as straws, are incorrectly disposed of, increasing the load on the processing capacity of waste sorting facilities," a Lucy official emphasized. "By installing such AI vision-based sorting guides in apartments and waste sorting facilities, the amount of mis-discharge can be drastically reduced."