Local municipalities use AI robots to improve care for elderly

This combined photo shows two elderly women smiling at Hyodol, an AI-driven robot provided by the local government office in Chuncheon, Gangwon Province. Korea Times file photo by Lee Han-ho

By Bahk Eun-ji

Han Hyun-soon, 74, who lives in a rural area of Goesan, North Chungcheong Province, recently met a new friend.

Her new friend is a doll, which looks like an ordinary stuffed toy for kids. Han said she has been enjoying her companionship with the doll ever since she got it in January.

The doll gives her a wake-up call, and lets her know when it is time to have a meal.

"Grandma, when you're done with eating lunch, take your medicine. And when you've finished, please hold my hands."

When Han grabs the doll's hand, it praises her, "You did a good job."

The toy, a robot driven by artificial intelligence (AI) is also equipped with a function to send a notification message to Han's children, who live separately, in case she does not move for a certain period of time. It also has the ability to talk and sing when Han holds the robot's hands.

While the protracted COVID-19 pandemic has made it more difficult for the elderly to engage in outdoor activities, such AI care robots help the elderly take care of themselves and even give them a sense of security.

Seniors citizens learn how to use AI robots at a local senior center in Seocho District in Seoul, April 9, 2021. The district office said it provided AI robots for 50 of the elderly people living alone in the district. Courtesy of Seocho District Office

There are three main types of AI robots for elderly care used in Korea; stuffed toys, wearable devices, and AI speakers.

They have been found to help relieve depression among the elderly who live alone and rarely interact with others in their daily lives.

Among the various AI robots which can be found inside of stuffed toys, the most popular is "Hyodol," which was released by domestic AI robot manufacturer Hyodol in 2019.

So far, the product has been delivered to 96 out of 228 local municipalities across the country, including Jongno District in Seoul.

This product is equipped with touch and voice interaction; medication and meal management; conducting quizzes as a part of a dementia prevention program; giving notification to families or caregivers.

The touch and voice interaction is a function that makes it feel as if the user is communicating with the robot by recognizing it when the user touches the head, chest, hands and feet of the AI robot.

Like grandchildren, they can talk to the elderly and even sing songs to them.

The medication and meal management function helps the seniors manage their daily lives in accordance with the schedule set in advance.

If the robot does not detect the user's motion for a certain period, it immediately informs the guardian of an emergency through an associated application.

The Hydol robots' effect on emotional stability of the elderly people it provides companionship to and monitoring of is supported by collected data.

According to a study of 42 senior citizens aged from 67 to 98 in Chuncheon, Gangwon Province, who used the Hydol for six months from December 2018, conducted by a research team led by Cho Hee-sook from the Graduate School of Medicine at Kangwon National University, robots helped ease the symptoms of elderly citizens suffering from depression to 4.69 points (out of 15 points) from 5.76 on average.

In particular, the proportion of those categorized as high-risk with a score of 11 or higher has decreased to 14.3 percent from 19.0 percent.

Cho said, "If the elderly sit still all day without talking to anyone, there is no stimulation of the brain, and hormones such as endorphins and serotonin, which are related to feeling happiness, are not sufficiently released."

"Further accurate hormone testing is required, but it can be seen that the feeling of happiness is increased while the feeling of depression is reduced through companionship with the care robot," Cho said.

Another AI driven wearable device "Soon-yi," was also found to help with the mental health of the elderly. Soon-yi is a wristwatch-type product made by DNX, a startup company in the Yongin City Digital Industry Promotion Agency.

This photo shows AI robots given to seniors who live alone in North Chungcheong Province. Newsis

After DNX provided the products to 111 elderly people aged 65 and over living alone for six weeks from last August, it was found that the average depression index decreased from 4.8 to 2.2 points.

An official of DNX explained that the device helped the elderly to stabilize their emotions by learning individual's life patterns, conducting quizzes, playing music and offering English learning content.

Among the care robots, the AI speaker is also evaluated to have saved a number of elderly users in emergencies through the related function.

Among them, SK Telecoms' AI speaker "NUGU," has helped rescue 102 elderly people from emergency situations over a two-year period from May 2019, according to the company.

While several care robots are receiving favorable reviews, some experts are also concerned about the long-term effects of such AI-driven robots.

This is because most domestic AI driven care robots, including stuffed dolls such as Hyodol, do not have deep learning technology, making it difficult to communicate with users interactively.

"We applied machine learning technology rather than deep learning, which requires a lot of data processing," said an official of an AI care robot manufacturer.

"Considering that the elderly prefer repetitive activities to learning new things, we have no plans to choose deep learning in the future," he said.

In this regard, an official from the Ministry of Science and ICT said, "Most AI-driven care robots in Korea do not use deep learning technology. The competitiveness of such products compared to those from other countries has fallen back due to the lack of big data analysis capabilities."

Experts also said such robots should only serve as additional support services for the elderly.

"Caring robots can cause an increase in social isolation and loss of human intimacy among the elderly," Kim Jeong-geun, a professor of senior industry at Kangnam University, said in a report published by the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs.

"Basically, social activities to meet people such as children, neighbors, housekeepers, and social workers are essential to them. It could have the effect that they actually refuse relationships with others," Kim said.