[Asia Economy Reporter Seulgina Cho] A study has found that the long-term memory of elderly individuals who continuously used the memory training program "Dunoe Toktok," based on SK Telecom's AI speaker "NUGU," improved by 13%. Working memory also improved by 11.4%, confirming a significant effect in delaying the onset of dementia.
SK Telecom and Professor Junyoung Lee's research team at Seoul National University College of Medicine announced on the 1st that their paper on the effects of the AI speaker-based memory training program on cognitive function improvement in the elderly was published in a prestigious international academic journal.
The paper was recently published in the renowned international journal in the field of medical informatics and healthcare, "JMIR (Journal of Medical Internet Research)." The research team compared the cognitive abilities of two groups of elderly people aged 60 and over?one group using Dunoe Toktok three times a day and the other not?over eight weeks from October 2019 to February 2020.
According to the study, the cognitive ability scores related to long-term memory (delayed recall), verbal fluency, and working memory (digit span backward) of elderly users of Dunoe Toktok improved by 13%, 11.4%, and 15.5%, respectively. Verbal fluency is closely related to cognitive flexibility, and working memory is a type of short-term memory that affects learning and executive function.
Professor Junyoung Lee's team explained that Dunoe Toktok has effects similar to face-to-face "Meta-Memory Training (MMT)" used domestically and internationally for dementia prevention and management, meaning it can reduce the dementia onset rate by more than 30%, similar to existing offline training.
This study is significant as it is the first to medically verify the effects of an AI speaker-based memory training program on dementia prevention by being published in a world-class academic journal.
AI speakers can be used early in the morning or late at night, and content updates are easy. They can also be utilized by elderly individuals who have difficulty visiting training centers due to illness, and they have the advantage of overcoming spatial and temporal constraints by being distributed to areas lacking professional personnel and facilities.
SK Telecom plans to continue efforts to advance and popularize "Dunoe Toktok" through collaboration with the digital therapeutics startup "emocog," established by Professor Junyoung Lee's research team. SK Telecom currently provides Dunoe Toktok as part of its AI care service to about 8,000 vulnerable elderly people in cooperation with local governments, and since August last year, it has also offered the service to customers who want to use it for a fee through its AI-based senior-specialized service "NUGU Opal."
Professor Junyoung Lee of Seoul National University College of Medicine explained, "Dunoe Toktok is easy to use daily through an AI speaker and easy to distribute, making it effective in drastically reducing the social costs required for dementia prevention and management."
Woonghwan Yoo, head of SK Telecom's ESG Innovation Group, stated, "Based on SK Telecom's AI technology and ICT expertise, we will strive to resolve difficulties across society, protect customers' health, and contribute to expanding the social safety net."
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