SK Telecom will apply artificial intelligence to its mobile navigation service T Map before September, it announced Thursday.

“We have embarked on the development of an AI-based navigation service,” said Lee Hae-yeol, head of the T Map division at SK Telecom. “At the earliest, a conversable T Map will be available within the next three months.”

T Map provided by SKT is the most widely used mobile navigation service. According to the company’s data, 10.6 million people used the service as of last October, accounting for 71 percent of the total navigation users.

Once the AI technology is applied, a T Map user no longer needs to type in a destination on a screen. The driver just needs to say, for example, “Find Coex.”

SKT also plans to introduce other services that can help drivers behind the wheel operate T Map without disturbances.

“The beginning of artificial intelligence is voice interface,” said Lee Jong-gap, team head of the T Map division. “Improving accuracy of voice recognition will be critical.”

By Song Su-hyun (song@heraldcorp.com)