Hyundai Home Shopping sets Nov. 16 for first regular AI-made sales show

Hyundai Home Shopping has scheduled its first regular sales program made with AI-generated voices and visuals. In a Nov. 15 announcement, the retailer said its new production system, AI-REAL, would enter regular use on the Hyundai Home Shopping Plus Shop data-shopping channel. The first program will sell Jeju Heart Gold kiwifruit at 3:20 p.m. on Nov. 16 in South Korea, according to the company.

Viewers will hear a generated voice and see generated product footage in a regular slot on an existing shopping channel. Hyundai says the format requires neither an on-camera host nor original camera footage. That extends the use of AI beyond replacing a presenter or inserting an individual clip. The announced rollout covers selected programs on Plus Shop.

How the production work changes

Hyundai’s job description for shopping-show producers offers a view of the conventional process. Producers discuss the merchandise and the running order with buyers, on-air hosts and suppliers ahead of a program. They coordinate with the studio during the show so that product information reaches viewers within the allotted time. AI-REAL changes how the voice and pictures reach the screen. The announcement leaves open who reviews the script and generated footage before airtime.

Some of the costs sit outside the broadcaster. Suppliers can have to prepare samples or furnish short clips showing a product in use or being made. Hyundai counted preparation of this kind when it measured what suppliers spent on its trial broadcast. Its first scheduled program will put the generated presentation around a real offer for fresh produce.

Showing what would otherwise require filming

The retailer says production teams could use generated footage to illustrate conditions such as the soil where produce grows or the stages it passes through on the way to market. Hyundai presented these as possible uses of the system. It did not provide a shot list for Monday’s show.

Heart Gold is a shared brand for the Gamwhang gold kiwifruit variety, according to Jeju’s Agricultural Research and Extension Services. The island started cultivating the variety in 2021 after it was developed by South Korea’s Rural Development Administration. Jeju’s agricultural office described selecting fruit that met its brand standards when it announced commercial shipments in 2023. Those historical checks describe the brand program and give no measurements for the fruit in the Nov. 16 offer.

For viewers, a farm scene generated to explain a product can look like footage of its source. Article 31 of South Korea’s AI Framework Act requires covered AI businesses providing synthetic output difficult to distinguish from reality to disclose its generated origin in a way users can recognize. Hyundai’s release leaves the on-air presentation of any disclosure unspecified.

What Hyundai measured in the trial

Hyundai says its suppliers spent at least 80% less on items such as samples and video inserts during a trial, compared with their previous costs. Trial sales reached 120% of the sales target. The release gave no cash amounts behind the percentages. The figures describe preparation costs and goal attainment, with no matched sales comparison that isolates the role of the generated footage.

Hyundai’s scheduling team ordinarily factors in product demand and looks at audience and sales data, according to the retailer’s description of the job. Beginning with fresh produce, livestock products and seafood, the company plans to schedule an AI-produced show at least once a month. It has identified processed foods and home goods as later categories and has named only the first program.