Have you ever wondered how we use AI at South of Seoul? If you aren’t, you should be. It’s worth considering how all your favorite creators are using AI. Let’s discuss our organization’s AI journey and how we integrate it into our program. While AI is deeply involved in our content creation process, we carefully balance its use to maintain human accuracy, creativity, and nuance in everything we publish.
- Early AI Adoption
- AI and South Korean Information
- How We Help Train AI with Our Data
- Using AI to Improve Content
- 1. AI to Assess Current Knowledge
- 2. Finding Keywords for SEO
- 3. Conduct Research
- 4. Organize Our Thoughts
- 5. Create Tables with AI
- 6. Create Headers with AI
- 7. Check Grammar and Spelling with AI
- 8. Finding Missing Information
- 9. Assess the Inclusivity and Tone
- 10. Assistant with Korean Translation & Phrases
- AI Doesn’t Replace People
- South of Seoul’s New Custom AI ChatBot
Early AI Adoption
We started testing the abilities of AI around December 1st, 2022. The technology was released to the public on November 30th, 2022. It took us only a few days to adapt. Our friends in tech couldn’t stop talking about it, so we jumped in with both feet. We immediately saw the massive potential and the pitfalls of AI in cross-cultural blogging.
AI and South Korean Information
Even though we immediately understood the importance of AI for the South of Seoul organization and our ability to support international residents living in South Korea, the accuracy of information about South Korea remains a work in progress.
Early AI Data on Korea in 2022
One of the biggest issues with AI at the time was that it didn’t have access to content generated in South Korea. Nearly everything we asked it to create about Korea was horrifically inaccurate since the AI was only trained on English information about South Korea from a few years prior. This meant only information on Seoul, Busan, or Jeju had any accuracy. The Pyeongtaek information was wildly inaccurate, often traceable to incorrect data from sites like Travelocity.
AI Data Accuracy in 2024
Since then, the accuracy of information across Korea has improved. This change occurred when 1) AI gained access to real-time data, and 2) U.S. developers of AI models formed relationships with Korean companies, allowing AI to train on data generated in Korea by Koreans. This has greatly improved the quality of content about Korean culture and life in South Korea. Now, when we ask AI about Pyeongtaek, the information is about 75%-80% accurate.
South of Seoul and AI Data Accuracy
AI models have also begun referencing South of Seoul as a source of more accurate data for Pyeongtaek. Since we generate much of the localized data for Pyeongtaek, we realized we needed to focus on training data in AI rather than simply sourcing data from AI. Therefore, we now work to generate content that helps train AI to improve information on Pyeongtaek and other topics across South Korea.
How We Help Train AI with Our Data
Let’s roll back the conversation a little. South of Seoul uses a specific writing and formatting style based on standardized academic writing and SEO practices. We implemented this strict formatting system in 2021 and doubled down on it in December 2022. Once we realized that AI was regularly prioritizing our information, we further refined our writing standards with AI learning in mind.
Using AI to Improve Content
Even though we can’t easily auto-generate all of our content using AI, that doesn’t mean we don’t use AI for nearly every article we publish. Just as we’ve standardized our writing system, we’ve also developed a system for using AI effectively.
1. AI to Assess Current Knowledge
Every article starts by asking AI to write an article on the topic. We don’t plan to use the AI-generated article, but we treat it as research. The AI article provides a summary of what people know about the topic. We review the AI-generated article to identify things like:
- Gaps in information
- Inaccurate information
- Misleading information
- Missing perspectives
Since we aim to help train AI, we use this assessment to structure our articles around what’s missing. As an organization, South of Seoul wants to provide valuable content, not just contribute to the online echo chamber. However, if AI produces a perfect blog post on a topic, we might choose to skip it, as the information is already accurate.
2. Finding Keywords for SEO
We ask AI to recommend keywords for Search Engine Optimization (SEO). This helps ensure that algorithms and AI can successfully locate and use our information.
3. Conduct Research
We ask AI to recommend resources. Sometimes we can spend all day Googling and still not feel confident that we’ve found the best information. In these cases, we ask AI to suggest additional reading and references.
4. Organize Our Thoughts
When things get confusing, AI can help us find clarity. Sometimes, after writing a long article, we realize that it doesn’t make sense. In these situations, we use AI to streamline the writing. This helps us see how others might interpret our work and identify spots where more information is needed.
5. Create Tables with AI
We use AI to quickly generate tables. Sometimes our posts are too wordy, and a table is a better way to present data. We often ask AI to turn dense information into a table, which you might see in our articles about neighborhoods, housing, shoe sizes, etc.
6. Create Headers with AI
AI helps us with headers. After writing a long post, we may struggle with the correct headers. We’ll input the article into AI and ask for header suggestions, which we can then modify to fit our needs.
7. Check Grammar and Spelling with AI
Most of us at South of Seoul have dyslexia. We need all the help we can get with spelling and grammar. AI helps us check for accuracy, saving our editors countless hours of volunteer time.
8. Finding Missing Information
We use AI to review our work for missing information. After finishing an article, we might ask AI, “What did we miss? What other information should we include?” This provides an additional check on our work.
9. Assess the Inclusivity and Tone
We ask AI to help hold us accountable. When writing about difficult topics, we use AI to assess inclusivity and tone, allowing us to see our writing from different perspectives and improve how we communicate.
10. Assistant with Korean Translation & Phrases
We use AI to help us read Korean information, create useful phrases, source keywords, etc. It’s revolutionized our ability to access more information generated in Hanguel. This improves the quality of our research and information immeasurably.
AI Doesn’t Replace People
As content creators, we all need to remember that AI doesn’t replace people. We need humans to define problems to solve, assess information, and add lived experiences.
Also, at South of Seoul, we believe in transparency when it comes to our AI use. While AI helps us streamline processes, find information, and refine content, it doesn’t replace the human touch in our work. We are intentional in how we integrate AI, ensuring it assists rather than overtakes. Our AI journey is part of our mission to provide accurate and accessible information to the community while keeping human insight, creativity, and ethics at the forefront of everything we do.
South of Seoul’s New Custom AI ChatBot
This brings us to our latest piece of technology developed for the South of Seoul Community. We would like to introduce our custom-trained South of Seoul ChatBot we call our “AI Intern“. Once fully trained, she will become known as an “AI Integration Assistant.” Our SOS AI Intern trains on South of Seoul curated information. As we continue to test the AI Intern’s knowledge and create new data, her accuracy and ability to help will improve over time. We welcome our community to interact with our SOS AI Intern to learn more about Pyeongtaek and South Korea.
Training the South of Seoul AI Integration Assistant
Our AI might get things wrong. If it does, let us know and we will fix the data! Message us at southofseoul@gmail.com. Let us know topics of information that need adding or information you found to be inaccurate. Together we can train her to be the best assistant around.
Lanae Rivers-Woods moved to Korea in 2011 where she lives in the countryside with her family, friends, and puppies. She holds a BSSW (Bachelor’s of Science in Social Work), a MAIT (Master’s of Arts in International Teaching), and registered by the Pyeongtaek Korean Times with the Korean government as a Cultural Expert.
Ms. Rivers-Woods used her 15 years experience as a social architect, UX/UI designer, and technology consultant to found South of Seoul in 2015. South of Seoul is a volunteer organization that leverages technological tools to mitigate cultural dissonance in multi-cultural communities.
Through South of Seoul, Ms. Rivers-Woods works with independent volunteers, non-profit organizations, businesses, local & federal government, universities, and US military organizations to develop solutions to support English speaking international residents in rural South Korea.
Additionally, Ms. Rivers-Woods founded the South of Seoul smart phone app available for Google Play and iPhone. The app provides information a resources for those living and traveling in South Korea.
When she isn’t in South of Seoul development meetings or working her day job, Ms. Rivers-Woods loves to be outside at skate parks, the beach, or playing in the mountains.
