Artificial intelligence service specialist ESTsoft (CEO Jung Sang-won) announced on the 15th that it has revealed its first AI instructor developed in partnership with educational company HUNET.

The ESTsoft AI instructor made its first appearance through a lecture on post-corona era leadership at an educational forum held online by HUNET. Participants who saw the AI instructor for the first time marveled at its naturalness, which was hardly distinguishable from human instructors.

The development of the AI instructor utilized ESTsoft's core virtual human production technologies, including AI voice synthesis (TTS) and video synthesis (STF) from its 'AI Plus Lab.'

The AI instructor showcased this time is modeled after real HUNET instructor Lee Min-young (Director of T&D Partners, former professional professor at Hyundai Economic Research Institute), combining ESTsoft's virtual human production technology with HUNET's content. Simply by inputting text, the AI instructor can automatically generate movements and speech, just like a human.

The debut of the AI instructor was an achievement made just five months after ESTsoft signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with HUNET. Through this project, ESTsoft has proven the versatility and expandability of virtual human technology by commercializing it in industries beyond AI announcers.

ESTsoft and HUNET plan to continue their close cooperation to introduce AI instructors to various educational settings. Industry participants in the education sector also expect that the time and cost required for lecture production can be significantly reduced with AI instructors.

ESTsoft CEO Jung Sang-won mentioned, "Virtual humans are not just about creating virtual characters online, but they can also be used as innovative technologies that overcome human and physical limitations and enable consistent, high-quality service. As the learning amount increases, resulting in the sophistication of AI, the pace of development for ESTsoft’s virtual human technology will also accelerate. We will continue to speed up the expansion of our services so you can experience ESTsoft's virtual humans not only in broadcasting and lectures but also in various industrial environments, including the metaverse," he conveyed.

Meanwhile, ESTsoft's virtual human technology has already been introduced in collaboration with YTN, a professional news TV channel, to implement an AI announcer. The AI announcer, unveiled last April, has drawn attention by delivering briefings and engaging in conversations, much like a human announcer.