The IT industry is constantly flooded with new innovations. These could be devices, games, or software. Amid our busy lives, many people often just skim through articles, thinking, “Oh, so that’s what it is,” and move on. But there are many things you can only understand by trying them yourself, or that you simply can’t grasp without seeing them firsthand. That’s why the E-Daily ICT Department has decided to share our unfiltered, vivid impressions after trying things out ourselves in our [IT: Try It] series. We will not publish any reviews that aren’t honest. [Editor’s Note]

[Edaily Reporter Lee So-hyun] Before artificial intelligence (AI) like ChatGPT could instantly “click” out an answer to a single question in a second, where did we go to pour out our worries? When we had nowhere else to ask but wished someone would answer, wasn’t Naver (#NAVER) Knowledge iN the place we turned to?

Q. “I don’t really understand love. Even if I say ‘I love you’ a hundred times, it all ends with just one word: ‘breakup.’ Why does love change?”
A. “Everything changes. Whoever said that what doesn’t change is beautiful? Yesterday, I climbed a mountain because I loved the mountains; today, I went to the sea because I loved the sea. As long as you hold onto that feeling of loving the mountains and the sea, can’t we define that as love?”

At the Naver Lounge set up at the “Inventario” stationery fair held at COEX in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, on the 12th, what held visitors’ attention the longest were the old questions and answers left on Knowledge iN. On one side of the lounge, a sign read, “10,476,641 love-related questions posted on Knowledge iN,” accompanied by the phrase, “After all, other people’s love stories are the most entertaining!” I had to admit it: other people’s love stories really are entertaining.

What’s interesting is that this scene unfolded in an exhibition space belonging to Naver, a company accelerating the advancement of AI technology. Naver has recently been integrating AI into every aspect of its search, shopping, and content platforms. Yet, at this analog-themed expo—where “stationery enthusiasts” gathered—the company instead highlighted paper, handwriting, questions, records, and merchandise. Why would an AI company attend a stationery expo? Looking around the venue, the answer lay in “content” and “records.”

The concept of the Naver Lounge was “a place where everyone’s worlds meet.” Traces left by users within Naver—such as blogs, webtoons, Knowledge iN, and special logos that change for each anniversary—were reinterpreted through a stationery aesthetic. It was as if the services on the screen had been transported into postcards, cards, exhibition stationery, and experiential spaces. A Naver representative explained, “Naver is a platform that has grown alongside user-generated content,” adding, “We wanted to playfully express our philosophy of respecting human creativity even in the AI era.”

In fact, the lounge was quite meticulously tailored to the tastes of female visitors in their 20s and 30s. The space featured paper cards resembling the Naver Knowledge iN UI, an experience where visitors could have their faces superimposed onto the Naver Special logo and printed, and a “Howl Zone” where they could lay out their purchased stationery and take photos. Some chose stickers, others picked up cards, and still others arranged their purchases attractively to take pictures. It was no surprise to hear reactions like, “Naver is good at this kind of cute stuff, too.”

The preferences for stationery, handwritten one-line reviews, uploaded photos and videos, and reviews left at the event all become content in their own right. In the lounge, an event was held where visitors could write one-line reviews by hand, and an official Inventario pop-up store page was operated on Naver Maps, where event information, reviews, and an Open Talk section were available. The reactions left on-site are also planned to be utilized as social media content later.

To create a good AI service, you need good data, and good data ultimately comes from records that people voluntarily leave behind. Reviews written by users based on their own experiences are more specific than advertising copy, and handwritten impressions are more vivid than AI-generated summaries. What keeps a platform alive is still the vivid, human-generated content—such as travelogues posted on blogs, concerns shared on Knowledge iN, comments on webtoons, reviews written on maps, and photos uploaded from stationery fairs.

AI is getting faster and faster at answering questions. Just type a few words into a search engine, and a summarized answer pops up first. Yet, some people still ask, “I need a word of encouragement.” Someone on Knowledge iN replied: “Someone loves you.” Seeing how this old Knowledge iN answer still resonates, it seems the power of words written by human hands will endure for quite some time, even in the age of AI.

In one corner of the Naver Lounge was the Naver Goods Zone. Twenty-eight merchandise items, previously sold exclusively at the Naver 1784 Brand Store in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, were made available to the public for the first time at this Inventario event. In particular, the “winged hat” icon merchandise, reminiscent of the Juniver era, stirred up a bittersweet nostalgia.

Of course, true to Naver’s style, tech experiences were also on the agenda. Upon entry, visitors could walk right in using the facial recognition service “FaceSign” without having to scan a QR code. At booths throughout the exhibition hall, including the Lounge Goods Zone, payments could be made via Naver Pay Connect terminals.