Gyeongju's APEC AI Interpretation Rollout Struggles to Win Over Drivers and Staff

Thirty seven languages, but a difficult first connection

About 1,000 taxis, 140 accommodations and 150 restaurants received artificial intelligence interpretation systems for the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) gathering in Gyeongju, South Korea. The tools supported up to 37 languages. Yet some drivers and hospitality workers found the new systems slower or harder to use than translation apps already on their phones.

Leaders, delegates and visitors from 21 economies arrived in a city that had installed translation technology at airports, railway stations, hotels and dining venues. The aim was to help travelers communicate and make everyday exchanges easier for workers serving guests from across the region.

Taxi passengers could scan a QR code to connect with a driver's device. Restaurants offered multilingual menus and portable interpretation units. Hotels received devices for conversations between staff and guests. Volunteers and technicians helped people learn how to use them.

During summit week, however, some pairing screens froze, connections took repeated attempts and hotel sessions expired during conversations. In several restaurants, staff did not know where the equipment was kept. Drivers often returned to Papago or Google Translate because they were familiar, quick and useful for more than spoken exchanges.

Fixed kiosks offered a more encouraging experience. At KTX Gyeongju Station, a visitor speaking Chinese and a staff member speaking Korean exchanged directions through a translation kiosk without having to pair separate devices.

Gyeongju's experience brought a practical test to APEC's focus on AI: equipment can be widely distributed while still struggling to become part of everyday work. The difference often came down to the first few seconds of a conversation, whether the device was visible and whether staff knew what to do when it failed.

What Gyeongju put in place

Gimhae International Airport and Gyeongju Station were among the major arrival points equipped with AI translation devices. Hotels ranging from delegation lodgings to venues hosting heads of state received units for conversations between two people.

Around 1,000 taxis had systems that connected riders to drivers through QR codes. Roughly 150 restaurants offered multilingual menus accessed through QR codes and portable devices that could translate in both directions at the table. The accommodation rollout covered about 140 properties.

Organizers said the systems supported 37 languages, covering every APEC member economy and several other languages used by tourists and business travelers. That gave the program a reach beyond the summit's official participants.

Volunteers and technicians worked across venues to help visitors and staff become comfortable with the technology. City officials also promoted autonomous shuttles and extended reality tours during summit week. Translation was one part of a broader technology showcase intended to support hospitality and demonstrate South Korea's use of services driven by AI.

How a spoken sentence becomes a translation

AI interpretation uses three main steps. Speech recognition first turns a person's voice into written text. Machine translation then converts that text into another language, using patterns learned through statistical training and neural networks. Finally, text to speech turns the translated words into spoken output.

Dedicated interpretation devices add features such as buttons users press while speaking and noise reduction to help capture voices in busy places. In Gyeongju's taxis and restaurants, QR codes often linked a guest's phone with a local unit so each person could speak and hear in their own language.

The arrangement depended on fast connections, stable networks and instructions both people could follow. Papago and Google Translate perform the same core steps on a single smartphone, while also allowing typed text and camera translation of menus or signs. That range of uses had already made them familiar tools for many workers serving foreign visitors.

Why taxi drivers kept reaching for their phones

Taxi drivers described the government provided system as slower to start and harder to connect than apps they already used. During trials, scanning a cabin QR code sometimes produced a screen reading "Waiting for the driver's approval," while the driver's tablet or phone showed no alert.

Restarting the apps did not resolve the pairing problem. Some tests eventually connected after several attempts, while smartphone apps translated immediately. In a taxi, even a short delay can interrupt a request for a destination or directions.

Ko Sung woo, a Gyeongju taxi driver, said he had used phone translation apps with passengers long before the summit and knew they worked. He also needed features beyond speech, including the ability to translate text on tickets or signs by pointing a camera at it.

I prefer using Papago because it is easier and can translate text instantly by taking a picture.

Cheon Jong ryul, another taxi driver, said the new pairing process added steps and complicated short rides. He described connections that took several attempts before both people could speak and hear through the system.

The new system takes extra steps to set up and is less convenient in practice.

Drivers work in an environment where a passenger may need an answer before the next turn. The time available to connect a device can be as brief as one traffic light cycle. A tool that requires repeated approval or setup can lose out to the quickest familiar app within reach.

Smartphones also answered several needs in one place. A driver might need to translate a receipt, a photograph of a destination or a ticket as well as a spoken request. A dedicated voice interpretation unit had to compete with that existing routine.

Restaurants struggled to find and start the devices

Restaurants near the Hwabaek International Convention Center showed gaps between receiving equipment and being ready to use it. Some staff and APEC volunteers were unaware that a translation device was available.

In several cases, a server had to ask the owner to find a unit in a back room. Once the equipment was switched on, staff described slow responses, comparing its speed with older 3G connections. For brief exchanges about orders, allergies or directions, smartphone apps felt faster.

A restaurant device needs to be available at the moment a guest asks a question. Equipment stored behind a counter or in a back room adds a search to an already busy service routine. Clear signs and simple instructions placed where people can see them would make access easier, especially when workers change between shifts.

Restaurants also showed why familiarity matters. A server who has not practiced with a device must learn while a guest waits. If the connection then stalls, the familiar phone app becomes the immediate alternative.

Hotels had better placement, but uneven use

Hotels generally had more consistent device placement and signage than restaurants. Some units recorded recent use by visitors from China and Japan, showing that guests were trying the service.

Staff knowledge still varied. During tests at a property near the Gyeongju Intercity Bus Terminal, a device logged out in the middle of an interaction and a spare unit had to be brought over. Expiring sessions and gaps in training made regular use harder during busy check in periods.

A front desk worker at a hotel near the terminal described limited interest from guests and the difficulty of keeping a queue moving when equipment stalls or needs resetting.

Mostly foreign guests who do not speak English try it, but during a seven hour shift only about seven people ask about it and most do not actually use it. Some guests find it interesting, and that is about it.

Hotel devices were sometimes plainly visible and sometimes less accessible. Some saw steady but limited use during peak arrivals by guests less comfortable with English or Korean. When the equipment was slower than a phone, it often remained idle.

Station kiosks showed a simpler approach

KTX Gyeongju Station provided an example of the system working as intended. A visitor selected Chinese on a kiosk tablet, spoke into its microphone and saw a Korean translation appear on the monitor.

A staff member replied in Korean with bus directions, and the kiosk produced a Chinese response. The traveler smiled and gave a thumbs up. A clear interface and staff present to help made the exchange straightforward.

Stationary kiosks removed the pairing step that caused trouble elsewhere. Visitors did not have to wait for a driver's approval or establish a private connection in a crowded restaurant. Both people used an interface that fitted the familiar pattern of asking for help at an information desk.

Residents who interacted with the systems said they made it easier for visitors to ask for directions and expressed hope that the units would remain after the summit. Whether the devices would stay in service after APEC was not specified.

What held back adoption

Gyeongju's broad rollout exposed several practical reasons why installed equipment did not always become a regularly used service. Connection design, visibility, staff preparation and the needs of each workplace all shaped the experience.

QR code pairing needed to work within seconds. A delay at the first tap pushed people toward apps they already trusted. Restaurants could not keep tables waiting through repeated connection attempts, while taxi passengers often needed directions immediately.

Staff preparation mattered just as much as device placement. Expired logins, depleted batteries or weak Wi Fi could stop a conversation before it began. Workers who had not practiced with the equipment struggled when guests asked to use it. Assigning someone to check the units each day would address those basic problems.

Speed also affected the rhythm of conversation. Users compared new public devices with the consumer apps they already knew. Even a brief pause could feel disruptive at a busy hotel desk or inside a moving taxi.

Trust grew from a successful first encounter. People in a hurry fell back on familiar tools when the new system did not work smoothly. During a short event, there was little time to overcome an awkward introduction and build a new habit.

APEC's AI ambitions met a local service test

APEC leaders placed AI and digital innovation among the central themes of their gathering. At the end of the APEC Economic Leaders Meeting, the economies adopted the Gyeongju Declaration, highlighting artificial intelligence, digital innovation and inclusive growth.

Leaders set three guiding priorities: build a dynamic and connected regional economy, prepare for digital and AI transformation, and make sure growth is shared across communities and workforces.

They also endorsed an APEC AI Initiative intended to help member economies develop capabilities and put AI to practical use. Gyeongju's interpretation devices offered a concrete local example of that ambition: using technology to reduce communication barriers for visitors and workers.

The rollout connected a regional policy agenda with ordinary requests for transport, food and hotel assistance. Its mixed results showed how much practical work sits between a commitment to AI and a service people can depend on. Reliable connections, trained staff and convenient interfaces are part of turning those goals into useful city services.

What could make the tools easier to use

Gyeongju's experience points to several possible improvements if the city or other destinations continue using such devices. The priority would be reliability, speed and a closer fit with tools workers already use.

Drivers and hotel clerks rely heavily on phones. Connecting a city interpretation service with popular local apps could remove extra steps. In taxis, a translation panel within a dispatch or navigation app could eliminate the separate QR code connection.

Simpler pairing could also help. A tap using near field communication, Bluetooth or a short numeric code could offer alternatives to scanning and waiting for approval. Where QR codes remain necessary, both people need immediate confirmation that they are connected and an obvious alternative when the first attempt fails.

Cars, lobbies and food courts create difficult listening conditions. Microphones and AI models need to cope with noise and interruptions. Models that run on the device, along with commonly used language pairs stored locally, could help maintain speed when Wi Fi is weak.

Image translation and quick text entry would address requests that speech alone cannot handle. Menus, railway tickets and street signs are frequent translation needs. If a unit lacks a camera, a simple way to scan with a guest's phone and share the result could broaden its usefulness without adding a lengthy connection process.

Each location could assign one person per shift to check battery charge, login status and the network. Devices should be visible, with a short laminated guide nearby so workers do not have to guess while a visitor waits.

Operators could also count sessions, successful pairings and dropped connections by location and time of day. Sharing those figures would help direct repairs and training to the places that need them most.

Human help remains part of the service. Volunteers and staff interpreters are essential for complicated requests or medical needs. AI devices are most useful when they make simple exchanges faster and allow a smooth handover when a conversation requires more support.

At a Glance

• South Korea deployed AI interpretation for APEC in Gyeongju, serving visitors from 21 economies and supporting up to 37 languages.
• About 1,000 taxis, 140 accommodations and 150 restaurants received systems, alongside devices at major arrival points.
• Pairing failures, slow responses, expired logins and uneven staff familiarity limited use in some locations.
• Taxi drivers often preferred Papago or Google Translate for familiar, quick translation of speech, text and images.
• Fixed kiosks at KTX Gyeongju Station supported smoother exchanges by avoiding separate device pairing.
• APEC leaders adopted the Gyeongju Declaration and endorsed an AI Initiative focused on capabilities and practical use.
• Possible improvements include simpler connections, visible placement, staff checks, functions that work without a network and integration with familiar apps.