Naver 'Clova Care Call' Expands to Metropolitan Area Local Governments... Service Introduced in Seoul Following Incheon

원본보기 아이콘

[Asia Economy Reporter Seungjin Lee] Naver's AI call service for elderly living alone, ‘Clova Care Call,’ is expanding its introduction to metropolitan local governments, following Busan Haeundae-gu, Daegu, and Incheon, now being introduced in Seoul as well.

Naver will sign a business agreement with the Seoul Metropolitan Government on the 19th to promote a pilot project for the ‘AI-based single-person household life management service’ and provide the ‘Clova Care Call’ service to 300 middle-aged and elderly single-person households in six Seoul districts (Gangnam-gu, Gangseo-gu, Nowon-gu, Dongjak-gu, Seongdong-gu, Jung-gu) over six months.

‘Clova Care Call’ conducts calls twice a week with care recipients, and when local government officials detect signs of crisis during conversation monitoring, they immediately check the recipient’s condition and connect them to relevant institutions and public support services by sector to provide assistance.

‘Clova Care Call’ is a service where AI checks on elderly people living alone by phone and can converse freely like a friend. It features Naver’s self-developed large-scale AI technology ‘HyperCLOVA,’ enabling natural interaction beyond standardized questions, allowing not only simple health checks but also emotional care. A survey conducted among elderly participants in the Busan Haeundae-gu pilot project showed that 90% of users felt comforted after using the service, confirming its effectiveness.

Moreover, as the number of middle-aged and elderly single-person households rapidly increases, care administration using ‘Clova Care Call’ is expected to be much more effective compared to the existing method where responsible officials individually call elderly people to check on them. In fact, ‘Clova Care Call’ was also used for monitoring COVID-19 active surveillance subjects until early this year, performing over 1.3 million phone consultation monitoring tasks over two years, supporting medical staff in quarantine sites to respond more efficiently and promptly.

As an AI technology solution providing new value to both service recipients and providers in administrative services, ‘Clova Care Call’ is accelerating cooperation with local governments nationwide. Following the pilot project in Busan Haeundae-gu last November, beta services have been underway in Daegu and Incheon since March. Based on the results of the Seoul introduction, Naver plans to expand welfare cooperation using ‘Clova Care Call’ with more local governments across the country.

Jung Seok-geun, CEO of Naver Clova CIC, said, “We are pleased that Clova Care Call has been introduced to the metropolitan area including Seoul, enabling us to support the welfare of more middle-aged and elderly single-person households with Naver’s AI technology,” adding, “We will continue to advance technology and services based on the know-how accumulated in the field and expand cooperation with various local governments nationwide.”

Lee Hae-seon, Head of the Seoul Metropolitan Government’s Single-Person Household Special Measures Promotion Team, said, “The number of single-person households in Seoul is continuously increasing, and face-to-face activities are difficult due to COVID-19,” adding, “‘AI-based single-person household conversation service’ will contribute not only to building a social safety net so that middle-aged and elderly single-person households in welfare blind spots can live together as members of society but also to improving the efficiency of administrative services using AI.”

Meanwhile, the pilot project for the Seoul Metropolitan Government’s ‘AI-based single-person household life management service’ involves a consortium with Naver and senior-friendly companies ‘EverYoung Korea’ and ‘EverYoung People.’ The senior workforce of these two companies will support conversation monitoring for Clova Care Call service recipients, and this project is expected to contribute to creating jobs for the elderly.

© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.