Seocho-gu Opens AI School to Support Senior Citizens' Use of Culture and Leisure Activities

District to Operate 'SMART AI School' Education Program for Seniors and Middle-aged by the 21st of Next Month
26 Community Centers and 330 Participants Targeted to Enhance 'AI Literacy' Skills by Understanding Generative AI Platforms and Applying Them to Daily Life such as Culture and Leisure... Education Provided and Active Social Engagement Supported for Senior Instructors

Seocho-gu is expanding its educational projects aimed at bridging the digital divide among senior citizens to include the use of artificial intelligence (AI) platforms. The program, which initially focused on teaching how to use kiosks, has been upgraded to cover YouTube, creator education, and now AI-related fields.

As AI technology rapidly permeates our daily lives, raising concerns about an increasing digital divide, the district is providing various educational programs to ensure that seniors, who represent the digitally disadvantaged, are not left behind in this era of change.

To this end, Seocho-gu, Seoul (Mayor Jeon Seong-su) is operating the 'Seocho SMART AI School' and is launching a curriculum that teaches seniors how to create diverse content using tools like ChatGPT.

This program, running until the 21st of next month, helps middle-aged and senior citizens become familiar with AI, a core technology of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, in their daily lives. It is also part of the district’s ‘digital literacy’ initiative aimed at preventing seniors from being excluded from digital devices and services.

Digital literacy refers to the ability to understand and utilize digital technology.

The program targets approximately 330 residents, including middle-aged and senior citizens, and is held across 26 institutions throughout Seocho-gu, including 14 community service centers, 9 cultural and leisure facilities such as the Seocho 50 Plus Center and IT Education Center, and 3 senior welfare centers.

The curriculum is designed to help participants use AI in everyday life and improve their quality of life. It includes theoretical lessons on the basic use of generative AI platforms such as ChatGPT, Wrtn, and Bing, as well as practical sessions where participants create desired outputs like documents, images, and videos.

Particularly, the practical sessions focus on topics related to the interests of middle-aged and senior participants, such as culture and leisure. Representative examples include ▲ creating personalized poetry videos ▲ gathering travel information and making travel plans ▲ making Christmas cards ▲ creating personalized characters and videos ▲ composing personal music, among others.

At the end of the course, participants share their completed works on YouTube, social media, and other platforms to help them gain confidence and a sense of accomplishment from their new learning experiences.

Among the 15 instructors conducting this program, 13 are middle-aged and senior individuals who have completed AI-related senior instructor training courses at district-commissioned institutions such as the Seocho 50 Plus Center. The instructors, aged from their 50s to 70s, conduct individual classes at the 26 institutions.

These instructors empathize with the difficulties their peers face regarding AI and digital devices and provide customized education tailored to their level. They also find fulfillment in teaching while preparing for a second act in life during the era of longevity, enabling active social engagement.

A senior participant who attended the ‘Creating Christmas Cards with Generative AI Bing’ class, which opened on the 27th at Banpo 4-dong Community Service Center, said, “Now that we live in the AI era, not being able to handle such programs makes life inconvenient. But I was able to understand unfamiliar content easily and enjoyably and even make a beautiful Christmas card.”

The ‘SMART AI School’ runs until the 21st of next month and is free for all Seocho-gu residents. Applications can be made via a Google Form accessible through a QR code, and further details can be obtained from the Seocho 50 Plus Center.

Meanwhile, the district has developed ‘Seocho Toktok C,’ the nation’s first kiosk education app for seniors, and is conducting kiosk practice education at community service centers and senior welfare centers. It also operates various ‘Active Smart Senior Projects’ such as an IT experience zone where seniors can try AI, VR, and robotics technologies, senior YouTube and broadcasting stations, and senior creator training programs to strengthen the digital capabilities of middle-aged and senior citizens.

Jeon Seong-su, Mayor of Seocho-gu, stated, “We will continue to operate diverse educational programs so that middle-aged and senior citizens are not excluded from digital daily life and can become ‘Smart Seniors.’”

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