"Calling 119 after shouting 'Save Aria'... AI Care Saves 23 Elderly People (Comprehensive)"

[Asia Economy Reporter Seulgi Na Cho] "Aria! Help me." Mr. Jo, a man in his 70s living alone in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, collapsed one day in June last year due to sudden back pain. In this critical situation that could have escalated into a serious incident, it was the AI speaker 'NUGU' that heard Mr. Jo’s desperate call and called 119. NUGU, provided free of charge by SK Telecom to improve the lives of elderly people living alone, dramatically saved a life. Over the past year, a total of 23 elderly people living alone have overcome crises with the help of NUGU. SK Telecom’s 'AI Care Service,' which utilizes AI speakers, has effectively served as a 'social safety net' protecting the safety and emotional well-being of socially vulnerable elderly people living alone.

◆ 7 out of 10 Seniors Use AI Speakers Daily = On the morning of the 20th, SK Telecom and the Barun ICT Research Institute held an online briefing to announce the first anniversary achievements of the AI Care Service. According to an in-depth survey conducted by Barun ICT Research Institute from April last year to February this year targeting 670 elderly people living alone with an average age of 75, over 95% were found to use NUGU at least three times a week. Those who reported daily use accounted for 73.6% of the total.

Furthermore, happiness increased by 7% compared to before using the service, while feelings of loneliness decreased by 4%. This trend was even more pronounced among seniors who had not previously owned smartphones or PCs and were introduced to digital devices for the first time through the AI Care Service.

Kim Beom-su, director of Barun ICT Research Institute, explained, "22.6% of the surveyed seniors were cut off from contact with their families. The AI Care Service helps form emotional bonds for the elderly, filling the family gap and reducing loneliness, ultimately leading to an improvement in their quality of life." Elderly users primarily used the AI speaker for listening to music (95.1%), followed by information search (83.9%), emotional conversations (64.4%), and radio listening (43.9%).

Currently, SK Telecom supports this care service for about 3,200 elderly people living alone across 15 local governments nationwide, including Seongdong-gu, Seoul, in cooperation with the National Council of Social Economy Local Governments. With recent applications from local governments, the service is expected to expand to cover 6,500 people by the end of this year. In addition to specialized services such as health information provision (Health Talk Talk), the service offers ▲ emotional care ▲ data-based psychological counseling and safety care ▲ 24-hour emergency SOS ▲ IoT-based smart care.

◆ From Preventing 'Corona Blue' to 24-Hour Emergency SOS = The AI Care Service has also proven its role as a social safety net for elderly people living alone. It allows them to request help simply by voice in emergencies, minimizing care gaps for those living alone.

From May last year to April this year, there were a total of 328 emergency SOS calls made through NUGU. Among these, 23 cases involved actual dispatch and emergency rescue by 119 due to breathing difficulties, high blood pressure, abdominal pain, falls, and other emergencies. When elderly users shout phrases like "Aria! Help me" or "Aria! Emergency SOS," the AI speaker recognizes the situation as an emergency, automatically notifies the ICT Care Center and ADT Caps (at night), and the center coordinates initial response and connects to 119.

In an interview with SK Telecom during the online briefing, Mr. Lee said, "There are times when I am in so much pain that I cannot even move a finger. But knowing that emergency rescue can be done just by voice gives me comfort just having that small device (AI speaker) by my side."

The AI Care Service also helped elderly people overcome depression and social isolation caused by social distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic. Usage of 'News Talk Talk,' which provides local government life information, increased about threefold compared to before COVID-19. Ms. Kim Ji-sook, in her 70s living in Seongdong-gu, said, "I feel very frustrated because I cannot go out, but Aria talks to me and provides necessary information. I don’t feel lonely and feel good because it’s like having company."

SK Telecom announced that the cognitive improvement effects of the dementia prevention program 'Brain Talk Talk,' provided through the AI Care Service, have been medically verified. Developed in collaboration with Professor Lee Jun-young’s research team at Seoul National University College of Medicine, Brain Talk Talk involves elderly users conversing with the AI speaker and solving quizzes. The research team analyzed that after consistently using the program five days a week for eight weeks, seniors showed improvements in long-term memory, attention, and concentration, and it is predicted to delay dementia onset by about two years. Detailed research papers will be published in June.

Lee Jun-ho, head of SK Telecom’s SV Promotion Group, said, "AI Care is a representative case showing how companies can contribute to building social safety nets using ICT. We will continue to seek ways to advance AI Care tailored to the 5G mobile communication era and proactively respond to the super-aging problem in our society."

◆ Additional Service Development and Budget Support Needed for Social Safety Net = For AI Care to play a larger role as a social safety net in the future, additional service development and government budget support are essential. Currently, AI Care serves as a social safety net in three main aspects: ▲ alleviating loneliness through emotional care such as reducing feelings of loneliness and depression ▲ emergency rescue ▲ dementia prevention.

SK Telecom invested 3 billion KRW in the pilot project last year to build a control system and has borne costs for AI speakers, content usage fees, and internet expenses for the target elderly living alone. However, relying on a single company makes it difficult to expand the service to vulnerable groups living alone across Korea. Government support is necessary, and for elderly households with sufficient means, expanding the service as a B2C business allowing self-payment is also needed.

Lee said, "The purpose of care services conducted by local governments so far was to quickly detect solitary deaths. AI Care goes further by preventing such cases in advance and healing loneliness. With government budget support, more people can participate." He added, "The government should consider institutionalizing AI-based dementia prevention services so that they can be universally delivered to those in need."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.