Yongsan District Launches AI Care Service for Single-Person Households

Seoul's Yongsan District is introducing an AI-based care service targeting 100 single-person households at risk of death by loneliness and social isolation. A district official explained that existing care methods, centered on home visits and phone calls, had limitations in ensuring continuous well-being checks and managing unsupervised time.

The introduction of emotional support and daily life alert features aims to alleviate feelings of isolation. The AI speakers to be distributed will serve various daily life functions, including acting as a conversational partner, playing music, providing weather and news updates, offering dementia prevention programs, and sending medication reminders.

The AI speakers also include a 24-hour emergency rescue function. If a user makes a rescue request, such as saying "Help me" or "Save me," the speaker will recognize it and immediately contact the control center and 119 emergency services.