SK Telecom’s AI care to provide 24/7 care for the elderly

• The company joins hands with Ariacare Korea and Happy Connect to create synergy in senior care services by leveraging its AI Care

• AI Care will provide the elderly with high-quality care 24/7, filling the hours that cannot be covered by caregivers

• With today’s partnership, SK Telecom expands its AI Care from a B2G service to a B2B service that can benefit a greater number of senior adults

SK Telecom (NYSE:SKM) today announced that it signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Ariacare Korea and Happy Connect to realize social value and boost the elderly care tech industry. The MOU signing ceremony took place today at SK Telecom’s headquarters located in Jung-gu, Seoul and was attended by Lee Joon-ho, Vice President and Head of Social Value Group of SK Telecom, and Yun Hyung-bo, Chief Executive Officer of Ariacare Korea, and Na Yang-won, Executive Director of Happy Connect.  

Established in August 2016, Ariacare Korea provides home and nursing care services for the elder beneficiaries of long-term care insurance who have difficulty living alone due to dementia or other geriatric disorders. Happy Connect is a social enterprise established in April 2013 and it is currently operating joint projects with SK Telecom to support the socially disadvantaged through the use of IT devices.

SK Telecom plans to work with the two companies to develop differentiated ICT-based senior care services that provide the elderly with care at all times by combining SK Telecom’s ‘Artificial Intelligence Care (AI Care)’ and Ariacare Korea’s expertise and knowhow in in-home care.

SK Telecom and Happy Connect will begin providing AI Care to 200 customers of Ariacare Korea from next month. It will also provide a dedicated application that enables care workers to check the status of the seniors under their care around the clock.

Ariacare Korea plans to create one-on-one personalized senior care programs based on ‘AI care.’ In-home caregivers will help the elderly benefit from the AI Care services by teaching them how to use devices including the AI speaker NUGU.

SK Telecom expects AI Care to provide care 24/7 by filling the hours not covered by care workers such as night-time and weekends. 

Today’s MOU marks an important step for SK Telecom as it expands its AI Care from a Business-to-Government (B2G) service to a Business-to-Business (B2B) service for beneficiaries of long-term care insurance.

With the aim to support seniors living alone, SK Telecom launched AI Care as part of its Happy Community* project in April 2019 in cooperation with the Association of Korean Local Governments for Social Economy and Solidarity, Korean local governments and Happy Connect. At present, AI Care is being provided to a total of around 3,200 seniors through collaboration with 14 governments.

*Happy Community is SK Telecom’s social value project launched in November 2018 to address social issues with cutting-edge information and communication technologies and infrastructure.

At ICT Care Center located in Seongdong-gu, Seoul, SK Telecom monitors data generated by the NUGU devices being used by the elderly and takes timely measures – e.g. counselling service, home visits, etc. – when signs of abnormalities are detected. AI Care is also helping the elderly stay healthy by providing a dementia prevention Nugu-based service developed by SK Telecom and Seoul National University College of Medicine.

Moreover, AI Care provides emergency SOS service, which enables the elderly living alone to use their voice to get help in times of emergencies. For instance, when the user cries out, “Aria*, Help!”, NUGU will immediately report the situation to 119 emergency number through the ICT Care Center.

*Aria is a wake word for the NUGU speaker.

“With today’s MOU, SK Telecom will be able to reach more seniors with cutting-edge AI Care,” said Lee Joon-ho, Vice President and Head of Social Value Group. “Going forward, we will work closely with diverse partners to further advance our AI Care to provide breakthrough senior care services fit for the 5G era.”

“We are delighted that we will be offering differentiated care services through SK Telecom’s AI Care,” said Yun Hyung-bo, President and CEO of Aria Care Korea. “Through cooperation with SK Telecom, we will proactively respond to the rapid aging our society and varying needs of our customers.”