Kakao has completed an artificial intelligence (AI) education program for youths outside the capital region.

Kakao said on Thursday it held a graduation ceremony on Feb. 12 at its Kakao AI Campus in Yongin, Gyeonggi province, for the first cohort of its Kakao AI Rookie Camp.

The camp ran in two sessions from Feb. 4 to 12 for 100 middle school students from non-capital regions nationwide. Each session was a three-night, four-day residential programme covering five areas: theory and practice, problem definition, project development, career visioning and sharing results.

Kakao CEO Chung Shin-a (정신아) attended the ceremony, presented awards to the top three project teams and encouraged the students.

"What matters in the AI era is not the speed of technology, but what kind of life you choose through that technology," Chung said. "I hope this camp became a turning point in life, going beyond solving problems with correct answers to defining the world’s problems on your own and trying to solve them."

She also stressed that technology is the warmth that fills gaps in the world, and that such a shift in perspective becomes a force that changes the world.

The students carried out social problem-solving projects under a fictional setting as "future Kakao junior interns." They built collaborative skills by using core technologies such as physical computing, backend server construction and AI-based web development.

At the graduation ceremony, the grand prize-winning team, MECA, presented an "early prevention system for drowsy driving" for delivery drivers who often drive at night. The team proposed analysing driver conditions using AI facial recognition technology and controlling the vehicle in risky situations, earning high marks for technical completeness and social value.

Kakao plans to continue efforts to nurture future technology talent, including holding a second Kakao AI Rookie Camp this summer, based on these results.