- Ericsson and LG Uplus want to move voice AI from applications into the network
- LG Uplus’ work seems consumer-focused, but it’s not the only one eyeing voice AI
- However, turning network-based voice AI in to a real product likely won’t be easy
Many early AI use cases simply run on the network. But increasingly, vendors and operators are looking at how to use the network to take AI to the next level. That’s certainly the case for Ericsson and South Korean operator LG Uplus, which just announced a new strategic partnership focused on voice AI applications.
The pair plan to work on building voice AI products that operate within – rather than just on top of – communications networks to enable more intelligent calling experiences. Their work will leverage LG Uplus’ ixi-O AI agent and Ericsson’s IP Multimedia Subsystems network technology.
Ericsson and LG Uplus will also work on AI-driven network automation and other “Network for AI” and “AI for Network” capabilities.
The partnership comes as LG Uplus strives to become an AI factory operator in accordance with the South Korean government’s goal of turning the country into a top-three global AI power.
“By combining LG Uplus’ voice AI service experience accumulated through ixi-O with Ericsson’s global network technology capabilities, we will introduce network-based voice AI to the global market, delivering a more intelligent and convenient communications experience,” Bumshik Hong, CEO of LG Uplus, stated.
Fierce has reached out to Ericsson for more detail about how it plans to embed AI in networks. We will update this story when we hear back.
Voice AI in focus
The idea sounds akin to what Alianza is trying to achieve with its Intelligent Communications Fabric. Alianza has said the goal is to use network APIs to allow operators and third-party developers to integrate AI into voice services in a way that wasn’t possible before.
Disruptive Analysis Founder Dean Bubley told Fierce that both initiatives are “in the same general ‘AI Voice for CSPs’ universe, but it’s a in a different galaxy entirely.”
Bubley pointed out that the Ericsson-LG Uplus announcement notably omits any mention of enterprise or SMB services and that recent demos he’s seen from the operator are very consumer-oriented.
“It’s also solidly mobile-focused, and the phrase ‘beyond app-based boundaries’ suggests to me that this aligns more with the GSMA’s vision of [5G] New Calling, but without the Chinese anchor vendors like Huawei and use-cases,” Bubley said.
Overall, he concluded it’s a “very early-stage initiative.”
Making Voice AI work
But as Alianza has pointed out, doing this is easier said than done thanks to regulatory and technical hurdles. There’s a whole raft of data privacy and consent laws to navigate, not to mention authentication, authorization and latency challenges to sort through.
As far as laws go, LG Uplus will likely have to contend with South Korea’s Personal Information Protection Act (PIPA). If Ericsson wants to replicate its presumed success elsewhere, it will have to work with operators to make adjustments to suit data protections and privacy laws elsewhere, such as General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in the European Union.
That’s not to say making it work is impossible. For instance, T-Mobile recently launched a network-based, AI-enabled Live Translation service that can work on any device, removing the need for users to depend on a particular app or phone.
Read more about voice AI and LG Uplus here:
Korean operators ramp up AI investments to make country an AI superpower
T-Mobile is trying to make voice calling cool again with new AI translation service
Alianza thinks the telco AI opportunity is bigger than distributed computing