AI HELPS PREVENTING ALZHEMIER’S

[Anchor Lead]

Experts say that working your brain and using hands and mouth a lot is an effective way to prevent Alzheimer’s disease or senior dementia. But it’s not easy for elderly people living alone to heed this advice. So now artificial intelligence products are helping senior citizens to keep their mental abilities sharp.

[Pkg]

[Soundbite] "Don’t give up the game now."

This old lady listens to the artificial intelligence device cheering her on.

[Soundbite] "(Was there a garden in the story?) Yes."

She thinks, talks, and laughs as if she is in a quiz show with the AI device. Her memory is naturally trained as well.

[Soundbite] Shin Yeong-suk(Seoul Resident(81 years old)) : "I learn from it and memorize it. I feel great when I get an answer right later on."

These questions may look easy, but they are programs actually used in dementia care centers which have been converted to AI-based ones.

[Soundbite] Chae Young-hoon(eader, ESG Project Team, SK Telecom) : "Whether the answer is right or wrong is not important. The key is the effort to remember and use the brain."

[Soundbite] "I’m lonely and depressed. (Do you want me to listen to you?)"

A local government has provided these AI-based pet robots to be a friend to senior citizens living alone. The pet robot is capable of holding 1.2 million types of conversations and continues to evolve according to individual characteristics. It is also capable of determining a dangerous situation by detecting a negative word and contacting a family member.

[Soundbite] Shin Hee-seon(Mapo-gu Dist. Office) : "In order to prevent dementia, it is important to talk to them, ask questions, and check their cognitive abilities."

A study on senior citizens older than 60 years found that those who used AI-based devices showed enhanced long-term and working memory.

[Soundbite] Lee Jun-young(College of Medicine, Seoul Nat’l Univ.)

If the brain practices to imagine and associate, memories can be stored more vividly.

As AI technology becomes more commonplace, AI devices are providing solid health support to the elderly in this contactless age.