KT Expands AI Care Service to Address Blind Spots in Elderly Living Alone Care

First Debut in Gwangju Metropolitan City Last April
Expansion to Daejeon, Busan, and Naju Regions

KT announced on the 27th that it will integrate an ABC (AI·Big Data·Cloud)-based digital platform into the KT AI Care service and expand the target areas. The photo shows Lee Kyung-ryeol (first on the right), an elderly resident of Bonghwang-myeon, Naju-si, taking a commemorative photo with an AI speaker. Photo by KT

[Asia Economy Reporter Minyoung Cha] KT is addressing blind spots in the care market for vulnerable groups such as elderly people living alone through artificial intelligence (AI) technology.

On the 27th, KT announced that it will integrate an ABC (AI, Big Data, Cloud)-based digital platform into its KT AI Care Service and expand the target areas.

Previously, in April last year, KT introduced the AI Care Service to 100 households of elderly people living alone in Seo-gu, Gwangju Metropolitan City. Through this service, elderly people living alone can benefit from preventing solitary deaths, managing health and emotional well-being, and improving convenience in daily life. This project will now be expanded to areas including Daejeon, Busan, and Naju.

The KT AI Care Service is provided through the AI speaker Giga Genie LTE2. If a user shouts, "Genie, save me" in an emergency, a 24-hour rescue is possible through the KT Telecop-119 linked system. It can also be used in homes without wired internet installed.

Through the KT AI Care Service, medication alarms, health management via cognitive impairment prevention games, AI companion conversations, Genie Music, and services to alleviate loneliness through conversations with KT CS professional counselors are also provided. It is also possible to enhance safety management functions by linking the AI speaker with various Internet of Things (IoT) sensors.

The KT AI Care Service helps actual rescues based on emergency alert functions. Following a bleeding accident involving an elderly person in Oncheon 1-dong, Dongnae-gu, Busan in December last year, emergency calls were made on the Giga Genie LTE2 device during emergencies in Seo-gu, Gwangju, and Naju, Jeollanam-do in March, leading to rescues through local happiness welfare teams or KT Telecop-119 linked responses.

Kim Young-sik, Executive Director of KT DX Platform Business Division, said, “KT is continuously expanding AI Care Services to fulfill ESG management responsibilities and to improve social issues such as Korea’s aging population and shortage of care workers. Going forward, KT will actively utilize its digital platform capabilities to further accelerate digital innovation in the care sector.”

Meanwhile, KT is also expanding care services for vulnerable groups using care robots Dasom-i and AICC, in addition to the Giga Genie LTE2-based AI Care Service.