Gyeonggi-do, 5,900 Consultations in 2 Months for AI Elderly Companion Service

Graphic Materials Related to Gyeonggi-do's 'Artificial Intelligence Elderly Companion Service'

Gyeonggi Province's artificial intelligence (AI) companion service for the elderly is achieving significant results.

The Gyeonggi Social Service Institute announced on the 30th that after implementing the 'Gyeonggi Province AI Companion Service for the Elderly' for two months, it provided 5,900 counseling services to 644 people.

The companion service for the elderly integrates generative AI using large language models (LLM) into provincial administration. Gyeonggi Province partnered with the portal company Naver to start the companion service on June 19, where an AI counselor calls the elderly service recipients' mobile phones once a week to engage in natural conversations.

The caller ID is displayed as a designated number, and if the call is not answered, it will be attempted up to three times. If all three calls are unanswered, the Gyeonggi Social Service Institute makes a direct call to check on the individual, and welfare service officers from the town, township, or neighborhood visit the residence to confirm if any emergency situation has occurred.

Among the 5,900 AI companion service calls made up to the 25th of this month, 463 missed calls were all followed up on the same day through cooperation with city and county offices to confirm the well-being of the recipients.

As a result of the welfare checks, 15 people showed signs of crisis, mainly reporting health issues, need for care, and financial difficulties. In response, Gyeonggi Province provided support such as medical expense assistance, meal services, and health center counseling through the 'Gyeonggi Province Emergency Welfare Hotline (010-4419-7722)' to enable prompt welfare service linkage.

Additionally, in cooperation with city and county offices, home visits and counseling were conducted to provide case management. The Gyeonggi Social Service Institute connected recipients to customized elderly care services, ensuring that life support workers visit regularly in the future to check on their well-being.

Han Kyung-su, Director of Elderly Welfare at Gyeonggi Province, stated, "Some elderly people feel comfortable sharing deep stories, perhaps because it is not a human, and the AI companion service has many advantages, such as being able to provide services regardless of weather conditions like heatwaves or cold snaps." He added, "We will actively expand the AI counseling project to provide more thorough and detailed care."

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