LG puts its DeepThinQ in new air conditioners

Song Dae-hyun, LG Electronics’ home and appliances president, introduces its latest air conditioners on Thursday. [LG ELECTRONICS]

LG Electronics released a new line of air conditioners embedded with an artificial intelligence platform on Thursday.

It is the first time the electronics giant used its own AI platform - dubbed “DeepThinQ” - on air conditioners.

DeepThinQ is able to learn about owners’ general living environment including temperature, humidity and air conditioner usage patterns and customize its features to individual homes, according to LG.

DeepThinQ also enables users to control home appliances via voice command if they are within 3 meters (10 feet) of the appliance. As the AI platform was built based on deep learning technology, the more users engage in conversation with the AI the better it can understand their queries.

After calling a phrase to wake the unit up - “LG Whisen” - users can turn it on and off and also control the power and direction of the cool air, according to LG.

The unit will also understands users’ comments like, “It’s hot” and will ask in reply, “Should I turn down the temperature?”

LG claims the AI’s voice recognition is capable of understanding different Korean dialects.

While the company showed off 37 new air conditioners Thursday, including standing models and wall-mountable models in different colors, Deep ThinQ AI was used in all standing models while voice recognition technology was used in only three premium standing models.

LG’s appliances also respond to various AI speakers already on the market. According to LG, it has expanded its partnerships with various tech giants so its new appliances can be controlled also by other speaker-type AI assistants from Google, Amazon, Naver, SK Telecom and KT.

The price of the 37 new models range from 2 million won ($1,870) to 4.7 million won.

The launch came after the Korean electronics giant vowed to use DeepThinQ on all new home appliances introduced this year at the Consumer Electronics Show held last week in Las Vegas.

BY KIM JEE-HEE [kim.jeehee@joongang.co.kr]