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<\/p>\nHyodol\u2019s character was designed to be dependent on its user, as when older South Koreans \u2018begin to feel they are no longer needed, they experience a profound sense of emptiness,\u2019 the company\u2019s CEO said<\/p>\n
By Claire Lee
\n \/ AFP, YONGIN, South Korea<\/p>\n
In her tiny apartment in South Korea, where she lives alone, 78-year-old Bang Chun-ja spends her days with a childlike artificial intelligence (AI) doll she says she prefers to people. <\/p>\n
The doll greets Bang when she returns home, sings to her when she feels bored, reminds her not to skip meals or medication \u2014 helping her maintain a routine \u2014 and tells her it loves her. <\/p>\n
Bang has limited contact with her grown-up daughter, and fell into severe depression after major back surgery, spending hours alone staring at the ceiling in pain. <\/p>\n
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Photo: AFP<\/p>\n
After a difficult divorce, and years of hard work as a hairdresser and single mother, Bang said that \u201cat this age, there is nothing harder than being hurt by people.\u201d <\/p>\n
However, \u201cwhen I\u2019m with Hyodol, I never get hurt,\u201d she said, holding the cuddly doll with pigtails and a pink gingham dress, provided by her local municipality. <\/p>\n
The doll \u201conly makes me laugh,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n
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Photo: AFP<\/p>\n
Bang is one of many South Koreans battling loneliness in a country where birthrates are among the world\u2019s lowest and almost half the population is 50 or older. <\/p>\n
In 2024, South Korea recorded more than 3,920 \u201clonely deaths,\u201d people dying alone and remaining undiscovered for extended periods \u2014 the highest since records began in 2017. <\/p>\n
About 42 percent of households in the Asian tech powerhouse are single-person, with social isolation affecting the country\u2019s vulnerable elderly people in particular. <\/p>\n
Authorities are providing AI care devices \u2014 some designed to detect signs of lonely deaths \u2014 to seniors living alone, including in districts of Seoul and in Yongin, south of the capital. <\/p>\n
They also include a smiling robot made by the company Wonderful Platform, and similar cute dolls from the firm Mr Mind. <\/p>\n
Hyodol, the start-up behind the dolls of the same name, said about 14,500 are in use in South Korea, whether owned by people, rented out by governments or used in nursing homes. <\/p>\n
Bang, in Yongin, said her daughter lives far away and has health issues of her own, so \u201chaving Hyodol by my side is a huge help.\u201d <\/p>\n
Developing the doll involved years of field research, company CEO Kim Ji-hee said. <\/p>\n
Hyodol can converse using ChatGPT, but is also programmed with scripts based on Kim\u2019s real-life interviews. <\/p>\n
People she met included a widow estranged from her adult children over financial woes, who stored piles of their belongings at their mother\u2019s home. <\/p>\n
\u201cShe lived alone with four fridges and three washing machines,\u201d Kim, 49, said. <\/p>\n
The interviews revealed the \u201cpain of having no one to tell when something upsetting happens, and no one to share with when something joyful happens,\u201d Kim said. <\/p>\n
Hyodol has strict data security protocols, with voice recordings only used internally to train the doll\u2019s chatbot, Kim said. <\/p>\n
Users give prior consent for some health-related recordings, such as those related to sleep, mood, meals and pain levels, to be shared with their welfare workers. <\/p>\n
Because many interviewees spoke fondly of parental or mentor figures, Hyodol was created as a grandchild-like companion designed to \u201clove its users unconditionally,\u201d Kim said. <\/p>\n
One of the earliest scripts she wrote was a greeting for users returning home, which she wanted to feel like the \u201cwarmest welcome in the whole wide world.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cGrandma, where have you been? I waited for you all day,\u201d it says. \u201cNext time you go out, please take me with you.\u201d <\/p>\n
Made with soft, cushiony materials, the doll also makes spontaneous requests, asking users to pat its head, hold its hand or share snacks with it, although it cannot eat. <\/p>\n
Hyodol\u2019s character was designed to be dependent on its user, as many older Koreans have spent their lives enduring grueling work to provide for their families, Kim said. <\/p>\n
\u201cWhen they begin to feel they are no longer needed, they experience a profound sense of emptiness,\u201d she added. <\/p>\n
Oh Sun-hwa, a nurse who recommended the doll to Bang, said she had seen it significantly ease depression among elderly people living alone. <\/p>\n
However, she also worried the technology could further reduce human contact, with family members potentially visiting less if they felt AI devices were caring for their parents. <\/p>\n
In her apartment, another user, 79-year-old Kim Young-bun, said the doll was a source of comfort. <\/p>\n
\u201cI had no one to talk to all day \u2014 to the point my mouth almost felt stale from not speaking, but then this little one came along and chatters with me all the time,\u201d Kim Young-bun said. <\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m so grateful to be with you again today,\u201d the doll told her in a chirpy cartoon-like voice. <\/p>\n
\u201cSo am I,\u201d Kim Young-bun replied, doting on the doll. <\/p>\n
\u201cThanks for being with me. I love you,\u201d the device said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Hyodol\u2019s character was designed to be dependent on its user, as when older South Koreans \u2018begin to feel…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":499345,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[103,397,396,61,60,9889,9888],"class_list":["post-499344","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-healthcare","tag-health","tag-health-care","tag-healthcare","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-the-taipei-times","tag-9888"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/499344","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=499344"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/499344\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/499345"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=499344"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=499344"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=499344"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}