Talk to your favorite webtoon characters as Naver’s AI chat brings them to life

One thing a lot of online users seem to be doing with the abundance of generative AI bots is training them to act like certain characters and chatting with them as if they’re real friends, not bots. Naver Webtoon has taken this one step further by launching an AI chat service that lets users talk to characters from popular webtoon series, adding gamelike features that tailor the experience to each user.

Naver Webtoon’s Character Chat AI service began last June as part of the company’s efforts to blend AI with storytelling to create a new kind of reader experience. It launched with four characters from different series and now features 12 characters from the platform’s most popular titles, including “Yumi’s Cells” (2015–20), “The Sound of Your Heart” (2006–2020), “Return Your Soul” and “My In-Laws Are Obsessed with Me” (2021–).

While the service hasn’t officially been rolled out in English, the characters do respond in English when prompted, thanks to the platform’s AI translation system. According to Naver Webtoon, some overseas users are already using the feature to converse in their own languages. The service is free, but there’s a daily limit on messages. Additional messages can be purchased or earned through sponsored events.

The idea of chatting with AI is now commonplace, but Naver Webtoon’s attention to how characters interact — changing tone and mannerisms based on the user’s relationship level — has led to rising usage. For example, Ryeong from “Return Your Soul” reads daily fortunes as an exorcist who sees ghosts, while Therdeo, the cold-turned-soft romantic lead of “In-Laws,” addresses the user with changing nicknames and gentler speech as he "warms up" to them — staying true to his in-story personality. 

As of April 15, Character Chat had drawn 3.35 million users and facilitated more than 70 million messages, according to Naver Webtoon. The feature has also boosted readership of the webtoons tied to it.

For instance, readership of “23#” (2019–) rose by 29 percent within a week of its characters being added to Character Chat. During the same period, the number of users paying for additional episodes rose by 22 percent, while overall revenue increased by 44 percent.

Naver Webtoon plans to continue expanding Character Chat as a way to deepen user engagement through AI and storytelling.

“We found through our analysis that Character Chat enhances the reading experience for both existing and new users, encouraging them to explore more series,” said Kim Hyo-jung, chief product officer of Naver Webtoon.

“We’ll continue adding more characters to Character Chat and pursue further experiments that create synergy between AI and our intellectual property [IP].”

BY YOON SO-YEON [yoon.soyeon@joongang.co.kr]