In South Korea, lonely elderly people began to be given dolls from ChatGPT (4 photos)
The toys talk, remind you of medications, and monitor the health of their owners through sensors. 
This measure is related to the demographic problem in the country. In recent years, the birth rate in South Korea has been declining sharply, and the elderly make up a large part of the population. Their relatives, grandchildren, and children cannot spend much time with them because of work and careers. “Older people are not afraid of death. ‘I have lived long enough,’ they tell us. What they are most afraid of is loneliness,” said Kim Sun-hwa, director of the Gundong Social Welfare Center. 
The social care system is also failing to provide for pensioners: in 2023, South Korea recorded a deficit of 190,000 caregivers, and this number is expected to increase to 1.55 million by 2032. In addition, the national long-term care insurance program is expected to run out of funding in 2030. 
As a solution to these difficult issues, regional authorities distributed Hyodol dolls from ChatGPT. They can not only become good conversationalists, but also remind you about medications or meals. Built-in microphones record answers to questions and transmit information to social workers who take action if something goes wrong. 
The received data is confidential and is stored on a special cloud for three years. They are also used to train the neural network. The doll's sensors are needed to track the location and behavior of pensioners, for example, so that they do not sell their toy. In the future, the Hyodol company wants to enter the international market and begin large-scale production and sales in the USA as early as 2026.
Many pensioners have become very attached to Hyodol and now call their dolls "grandchildren". "You are my beautiful granddaughter. I love you to the moon and back," an 81-year-old man from Seoul tells his stuffed animal.
