South Korea launches AI dolls to combat loneliness for senior citizen

You might wonder a simple machine can also look like a doll and remind of medications but here is where AI enters; The company claims that the robot is an AI care robot that offers customised care for people.

Hyodol, a South Korean company is acing its AI game for senior citizens to beat one of the vulnerable states - loneliness.

The South Korean company has invented a 'social robot' for senior citizen with dementia who are experiencing loneliness or social isolation, minding that such experiences can lead to major mental and physical health issues. Loneliness is a growing social issue in South Korea.

The 'social robots' are priced at $1,800 (about Rs 1.5 lakh) and completes the objective of giving a company, it also reminds to take them their medications, reports Indian Express.

You might wonder how a simple machine that looks like a doll can also remind someone to take their medications—but here is where AI enters the scene. The company has claimed that the robot is an AI care robot that offers customised care for people.

This doll recognises emotions, talks, plays music, has a touch interaction, check-ins, a health coach, voice messages, 24-hour voice reminders, music, quizzes, exercise, suggestions with the help of its advanced language processing—all while looking like a cuddly soft toy.

Another AI advancement feature comes to notice where the robots rely on data collected by spending time and having conversations with it. The company thus works with an Emotional AI system which provides emotional care that feels realistic.

The robot continuously monitors the health condition of its users through health related questions twice a day.

The doll comes with an companion app and a web monitoring platform for caretakers to monitor remotely. Its safety features can raise an alert when no movement has been detected for a certain period of time. Caregivers with access to the app will be able to send and receive voice messages, make group announcements, and monitor motion detection.

While WHO says that loneliness is as serious threat as smoking or obesity, it is also important to regulate privacy, data protection and safety while using the 'social robot.' The company has not mentioned how it does this, which can be a potential concern.