“Small and Smart Companion, Better than Children” ... Busan Ranks No.1 Nationwide in AI Emotional Care Service Usage

Busan City Receives 'Very Satisfied' User Feedback on Solitary Death Prevention and Emergency Response

Pilot Project Using AI Speakers Launched Since 2020

Status of AI Care Service Usage in December.

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Yong-woo] Do you know the city where artificial intelligence (AI) most actively plays the role of companion and child for elderly people living alone?

As the society rapidly ages, Busan has been found to have the highest usage rate of AI services deployed for tasks such as preventing solitary deaths.

Busan City announced on the 23rd that the "AI Emotional Care Support Service," which has been implemented as a pilot project since 2020, is successfully settling in with high user satisfaction and usage rates.

The AI Emotional Care Service uses AI speakers to provide companionship and daily convenience services, helping to alleviate users' feelings of loneliness and depression.

In January 2020, Busanjin-gu and Buk-gu were selected as pilot areas for the Ministry of Health and Welfare's smart home service project, and since May of the same year, the service has been provided for three years targeting middle-aged single-person households and low-income elderly living alone in Busanjin-gu and Buk-gu.

According to data provided by the Happiness Connect Foundation, Busan recorded an 83% usage rate, about 12% higher than the average usage rate of local governments offering the same AI service, ranking first nationwide in AI speaker usage.

Happiness Connect is a nonprofit organization funded by the SK Happiness Sharing Foundation.

In a satisfaction survey conducted with 200 service users, over 90% responded that their satisfaction with using the AI speaker was "very high," confirming that it provides practical help in daily life.

Regarding the AI service's strength in "emergency response," a total of 29 emergency situations were promptly addressed and preemptively managed from 2020 to 2021.

Additionally, eight visiting staff members are deployed to provide offline care to users. This is expected to help alleviate loneliness and contribute to preventing solitary deaths.

Lee Seon-ah, Director of the Social Welfare Bureau of Busan City, said, "When the pilot project ends at the end of this year, we will analyze the achievements and areas for improvement over the past three years to seek ways to help citizens in real life. Since AI can effectively respond to the issue of solitary deaths, we will continue to discover and implement various projects."

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