Ministry of Science and ICT to Hold Finals of '2026 AI Creation Contest' at Kakao AI Campus

The Ministry of Science and ICT held the finals of the "2026 AI Creation Contest" at Kakao AI Campus on October 24, 2026. This contest is one of the key tracks of the "Nationwide AI Competition," an event themed "The Future We Live With AI," where participants create fairy tales, children's songs, and webtoons using artificial intelligence. ¹

A Giant Step Toward 'AI for All': The Nationwide AI Competition

The "2026 AI Creation Contest" operates as a sub-track of the "Nationwide AI Competition," a major government project for 2026. The "Nationwide AI Competition" runs under the slogan "AI for All" with total prize money of 3 billion Korean won. ², ³ To enhance accessibility for participants and encompass all generations and social groups, it is divided into four tracks: general public, elementary, middle, and high school students, university students and researchers, and seniors and people with disabilities. ² Throughout the competition, there is also an aim to build a model of mutual benefit that verifies the usability of technologies developed by domestic companies and promotes their spread by linking with domestic AI services. ²

Combining Imagination and Technology: Key Tracks and Tools of the AI Creation Contest

The "2026 AI Creation Contest" aims to nurture talents who create new content through AI and was introduced for the first time this year, primarily targeting preschool and elementary school students. ¹ The participating categories consist of 'Story with AI,' which handles fairy tale creation, 'Sound with AI,' which handles children's song creation, and 'Art with AI,' which handles webtoon creation. ¹

Four AI tools developed by domestic companies, including Solara, MathAI, Miricanvas, and Wtoon, were used in the conduct of the contest. ¹ This contributed to allowing the public to directly experience domestic AI technology and increasing its accessibility. ¹ According to reference materials on workflow by track, for original children's songs, lyrics are generated by inputting a prompt specifying the theme and words to include, followed by a process of creating music by specifying mood and instruments on the 'Smart' platform. ⁴ In addition, there were differences in how each tool could be used; for example, MathAI was restricted to uses such as for educational institutions and was available only for on-site use. ⁴

From National Touring Preliminaries to the Finals: Hot Interest from Over 1,700 Participants

This final contest was held after preliminaries conducted sequentially in 10 regions across the country, starting from Busan on June 21. ¹ Over 1,700 people from across the country, including Busan, Incheon, Jeju, Seoul, Wonju, Daejeon, Daegu, Andong, Gwangju, and Jeonju, participated in the preliminary stages, proving high interest. ¹

The process also included participants realizing the importance of responsibly utilizing technology based on AI ethics. During the preliminary and final rounds, AI ethics education and training on the use of AI tools were conducted concurrently for participants and guardians. ¹ These educational elements provided an opportunity to consider the social responsibility of technology, going beyond simply improving technical skills. ¹

Kakao AI Campus Used as an AI Experience Hub

Kakao AI Campus, where this final round was held, is a facility actively used as a venue for AI-related experiences and seminars. ⁵ This space also hosted if(kakao)25 Krew Day, a large-scale event internal to Kakao Group companies. ⁵ About 1,000 crews from 12 group companies participated in Krew Day, directly experiencing automatic classification models through demo stations and sharing discussions on solving problems in the AI era through panel talks. ⁵ Given these backgrounds, it can be seen that an environment where AI and creation blended was created as a venue for hosting the finals of the "2026 AI Creation Contest." ¹, ⁵

Expanding the AI Creation Ecosystem Across Generations and Social Groups

The holding of the "2026 AI Creation Contest" finals is evaluated as an important case where children combine creativity with AI technology to create new outcomes. ¹ The fact that the "Nationwide AI Competition" established separate tracks for seniors and people with disabilities to emphasize digital inclusivity also suggests an important point that anyone, regardless of generation or social group, should utilize AI as an essential tool. ² Through the operation of a contest linked with such large-scale participation, a foundation is being laid for the substantive expansion of the base of the AI ecosystem.