Lee Soo-man participated in a special keynote speech at the World Congress of the International Confederation of Societies of Authors and Composers (CISAC) held at the Conrad Hotel in Yeouido, Seoul, on the morning of the 30th.

He stated, “AI chatbots will soon become the best friends and even partners for each of us humans,” and added, “The integration of K-pop and artificial intelligence (AI) will significantly contribute to K-pop communicating with fans worldwide.”

Lee Soo-man emphasized, “I am an AI chatbot believer. The integration of K-pop and AI is the convergence of culture and technology that I have long talked about, heralding a more extended and broader engagement between celebrities and prosumers (producers and consumers), i.e., fans.”

He further explained that the technology of AI and chatbots is rapidly changing the way creators and consumers communicate. He said, “AI chatbots, with their human-like appearance or even more attractive looks and beautiful voices, are gaining human fans. They are starting to interact with fans in real-time, answering their questions and communicating on behalf of creators.”

Lee Soo-man highlighted, “AI chatbots are already demonstrating remarkable abilities in text generation, music composition, and image creation,” and urged that, “As AI technology evolves to mediate interactions between celebrities and fans, content industry professionals must quickly establish business structures and build competitiveness.”

He expressed concerns about the potential issues arising from AI’s advancement, such as copyright infringement, illegal copying and distribution, plagiarism, exposure of creative works without protection, and economic losses for creators.

To prevent these issues, he said, “Clear copyright laws must be established, and technologies to prevent copyright infringement need to be developed and standardized globally. I believe that AI chatbots, avatars, and robots should be issued a form of ‘residence registration,’ or ID, to enforce a ‘real-name system.'”

Since the acquisition battle for SM last year, Lee Soo-man has primarily focused on ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) activities abroad.