106 participants from 53 organizations selected

Program taught generative AI use, work automation

Participants in Kakao's NGO worker training program, the Kakao Tech NGO AI Class, pose for a photo. (Kakao)
Participants in Kakao's NGO worker training program, the Kakao Tech NGO AI Class, pose for a photo. (Kakao)

Kakao has stepped up efforts to strengthen the AI capabilities of workers at South Korean nonprofit organizations.

Kakao said Thursday that it had successfully wrapped up its NGO worker training program, the Kakao Tech NGO AI Class.

The program was designed to help nonprofit workers apply generative AI to their jobs and to raise AI capabilities across their organizations.

During the recruitment period, 206 people from 106 organizations applied for the training. Of those, 106 participants from 53 organizations were ultimately selected.

The participating organizations spanned 10 fields: consumer and economic justice; environment and climate; international cooperation, development and aid; children, women and family; human rights and peace; intermediary support; social welfare and housing; civic participation and political reform; disability and minority rights; and youth and education.

The training ran over two days. The introductory course covered hands-on exercises directly applicable to daily work, including using generative AI for work automation, creating PowerPoint presentations and drafting Excel quotes.

The advanced course focused on using AI to streamline tasks NGO workers actually perform, with practice sessions covering customized AI environment setup, monitoring key issues, producing newsletters and automating data management.

Kakao said the program aimed to expand AI use organization-wide. To that end, the training was designed so that each organization's leader (team manager or above) and a staff member would participate together as a pair. All those who completed the training received a one-month subscription to the paid AI service Claude Pro.

Lee Sung-bum, head of the nonprofit Wonders International, who took part in the training, said, "Through the education and hands-on practice, I learned methods I can apply directly to our work, and it gave me time to think concretely about how to spread this across the organization."

Hong Shin, Kakao's ESG cooperation performance leader, said, "We will continue to design practical training that matches the needs of workers in the field and expand our support to more fields going forward."

Meanwhile, Kakao ran a similar program for small-business owners last year, the Kakao Tech AI School Boss Class, aimed at helping them use AI effectively to boost their competitiveness. Kakao said it plans to keep expanding AI training programs across civil society.


sjpark@heraldcorp.com