Korail "Chatbot Helps Visually and Mobility-Impaired Passengers Book Tickets"

An artificial intelligence (AI)-based chatbot service to assist visually and physically impaired individuals in booking train tickets will be introduced and operated.

Korea Railroad Corporation (KORAIL) announced on the 21st that it will launch a dedicated voice chatbot service for the disabled, enabling users to book train tickets or receive customized consultations through conversations with an AI chatbot on the mobile app 'KORAIL Talk.'

Example screen of the voice chatbot service exclusively for people with disabilities. Provided by Korea Railroad Corporation

The dedicated voice chatbot for the disabled, which can handle train ticket bookings and consultations simultaneously, is the first of its kind in the world introduced by KORAIL.

When visually or physically impaired members registered as railroad members access the KORAIL Talk app, a voice consultation guide window automatically pops up, allowing users to speak and process the required services by voice as if conversing with a counselor. This is the core function.

Service users can use voice commands not only for train ticket bookings and consultations but also for a series of consultation services provided by KORAIL Talk, such as 'reservation confirmation' and 'cancellation.'

The AI chatbot has also been introduced to KORAIL customer center operations, including phone consultations and KORAIL Talk chat consultations. Going forward, AI chatbots will be utilized in 24-hour phone consultation callbots and KORAIL Talk chat consultations.

KORAIL explained that the operation method has been improved so that callbots and AI chatbots handle simple inquiries, allowing counselors to focus on more complex and specialized inquiries. Typically, more than 50% of the over 10,000 daily inquiries received by the customer center are simple inquiries.

A KORAIL official said, “We will continue to promote service innovation using AI technology so that information-vulnerable groups can use trains more conveniently.”