S. Korea Turns to AI Dolls To Keep Older People Company and Monitor Their Health
A South Korean startup has come up with an AI-powered doll to help the country's many older people living alone battle loneliness and help caregivers monitor their health.
AI Companions Bring Hope to South Korea’s Lonely Elderly
REPORTER:
78-year-old Bang Chun-ja holds a doll in her apartment south of Seoul. These days, it's her only companion. But this doll, called Hyodol, is AI-powered. And it’s turned things around for Bang after a long period of isolation and depression.
Bang Chun-ja (AI DOLL USER):
I have one daughter but it is better than my daughter. Because it is right next to me while my daughter lives far away. She can’t really be of much help to me as I’ve gotten older. But since Hyodol is right by my side, it’s a great help to me.
REPORTER:
There are now close to 15,000 of these dolls around South Korea, a country where many people live alone and loneliness is a problem, especially among older adults. Officials distribute them to older people living alone. The dolls are programed with a childlike personality—designed to give their owners a role like a grandparent. But really, it’s the doll that’s a kind of caregiver.
Kim Young-bun (AI DOLL USER):
I'm home by myself all day, so I hardly ever get a chance to talk to anyone. It's gotten to the point where my mouth is getting rusty. And because I can’t go out too much, nobody comes to visit my home...But now, I laugh and talk more with this [doll].
REPORTER:
They’re not just cheerful company. These dolls also provide health monitoring. Users agree to certain recordings related to sleep, meals and pain that are shared with welfare workers. It’s important data in a country where thousands of people die alone each year— and in many cases are not discovered for a long time.
REPORTER:
The startup behind this doll spent years doing research with real older Koreans, developing scripts based on their needs. The dolls call their users grandma, greet them cheerfully when they return home, and even say that they love them. And they also put users in “caretaker” mode, important in a culture where many adults are focused on providing for family and older people still want to feel needed.
Kim Ji-hee (CEO, HYODOL):
I think I held the belief that unconditional support, playfulness and love is needed [in our Hyodol doll]. The entire script reflects it. The character is simply devoted to grandmother, a child who cannot survive without grandmother.
REPORTER:
These dolls are one of several AI-powered care machines that have official backing in South Korea.
REPORTER:
One nurse who recommended the doll to her client says they have real results—levels of depression go down, for instance. But she is unsure whether AI is a total solution for the country’s loneliness epidemic.
Oh Sun-hwa (NURSE):
I think people are ultimately more important. So I think that they need to work together. Rather than relying only on AI robots or only on people, I think they need to complement each other.
REPORTER:
Until more human help is available, these dolls can at least sing, entertain and interact with their owners—providing at least some relief to people who have no one else to listen to them.
