South Korea gives away robots to the elderly
In South Korea, thousands of lonely elderly people have a new companion - Hyodol, an artificial intelligence doll that can communicate, remind them of their medications, monitor their health and call for help in critical situations. "Hyodol, I love you," says 81-year-old Ms Kim, sitting on her bed next to the doll. "Grandma, I love you too," the robot's soft voice replies.
What can Hyodol do?
The robot's intelligence is powered by ChatGPT. The robot has a friendly voice and the ability to engage in emotional dialogue. It reminds you to take medications, eat, and do important things. Hyodol is able to detect alarms (for example, no movement for 24 hours) and automatically calls social workers. The robot also records answers to questions such as "How are you feeling?" on a daily basis to analyse your emotional state.
Figures and scale
South Korea has one of the worst fertility rates in the world, competing with Japan and Taiwan. As of 2023, almost half as many people were born in the country as died. Every year, the country's population is declining by more than 200,000 people. The average fertility rate is only 0.72 children per woman (it is believed that at least 2.1 children are needed to maintain the population level). This will lead to the fact that in the future the number of elderly people will significantly outnumber the number of young people - the problem of elderly care will become more urgent than ever.
The country's authorities have already distributed more than 12,000 devices to lonely people. The cost of one such device is approximately 160 million Korean won (~$120,000 USD). This is significantly cheaper than the annual salary of a carer. In 2023, the shortage of caregivers in Korea was 190,000, and it is expected to grow to 1.55 million by 2032.
A global trend
Hyodol is not the only example. In Japan, there is Paro, a therapeutic robot that purrs and blinks, strange Americans talk to the ElliQ lamp, and in Singapore, Dexie, which plays, sings, and trains the elderly.
People have been looking for artificial companions long before the development of robotics allowed for the creation of relatively intelligent modern devices. For example, the famous Tamagotchi toy was invented by Aki Maita, who was single at the time. The original version of Tamagotchi did not provide for the "rebirth" of the pet after death, which led to particularly severe nervous shocks - there are even cases of teenagers committing suicide due to the loss of a digital pet.
Ethical challenges
Some elderly people become so attached to robots that they want to be buried with their mechanical assistants. There have been cases where Hyodol has detected suicidal thoughts and passed them on to social services. Cybersecurity experts are concerned, however, that there is a risk of private information leakage, as the dolls record intimate conversations and process them on third-party servers.
The name Hyodol comes from the Korean concept of "孝道" - the path of filial respect, which symbolises care for elders. It's not just a gadget - it's a technological interpretation of traditional ethics.
Source: en.hyodol.com
