"It feels good to have someone to talk to": in South Korea, seniors combat their loneliness with AI-powered dolls

Yoon Jae-deok, a 72-year-old South Korean, found companionship and renewed joy in life through an AI conversational robot after years of isolation due to economic struggles and mental health issues. His experience reflects a broader trend in South Korea, where a significant number of elderly individuals face loneliness, exacerbated by rapid urbanization and individualism. In 2024, over 37% of single-person households were aged 60 and above, with this demographic accounting for half of the extreme cases of 'godoksa', or death by loneliness.