Ever wanted to chat with Lee Byung-hun? With Naver's AI service for older people in Japan, you could.

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Ever wanted to chat with Lee Byung-hun? With Naver's AI service for older people in Japan, you could.

Published: 21 Jul. 2025, 14:31 Updated: 21 Jul. 2025, 19:19

Audio report: written by reporters, read by AI

Visitors watch a performance at Naver’s pavilion inside the “Festival Station” of the 2025 World Expo in Osaka, Japan, on July 10. [NAVER CLOUD]

Imagine chatting about your day with actor Lee Byung-hun — or at least, an AI that sounds like him. In aging Japan, where more older people live alone than ever before, Korean tech giant Naver is betting that friendly digital voices can ease loneliness, cut caregiving costs and become a new pillar of social welfare.

Inside Naver’s exhibition hall at the “Festival Station” of the 2025 World Expo on Yumeshima Island, Osaka, on July 10, visitors got a glimpse of that future. The company is showcasing its AI Care Call system, which checks in on elderly people living alone and spots signs of trouble before they escalate.

The booth shared firsthand accounts from older adults in Izumo, a city in Shimane Prefecture — one of Japan’s most rapidly aging regions — who have been using the service since last year.

“I wasn’t sure what to do when a machine started talking to me,” one older person said. “But the moment we started chatting, I thought, ‘Ah, it’s quite kind.’”

A visitor tries out the “AI Care Call” service at Naver’s pavilion inside the “Festival Station” of the 2025 World Expo in Osaka, Japan, on July 10. [KANG KWANG-WOO]

Izumo faced a mounting challenge: a growing population of older people living alone, but too few carers to look after them.

Last December, the city teamed up with Naver Cloud to pilot the AI program. Officials estimated they needed around 100 workers to keep tabs on all the older residents. With AI CareCall, they’ve reduced that to just five.

Lee Dong-hoe, an executive director at Naver Cloud who oversaw the project, said locals initially felt uneasy about talking to AI.

“At first, people worried about speaking with AI, but they grew comfortable after just one or two calls,” he said.

Visitors on July 11 crowd Naver Cloud's booth at the 2025 World Expo in Osaka, Japan, which opened from July 9 to 11. [YONHAP]

Naver’s 430-square-meter (4,628-square-foot) exhibition space featured an interactive zone where visitors could try out AI CareCall for themselves.

Inside the booth, a digital character modeled as a woman in her 20s asked questions like, “How was your day?” and “Have you been sleeping well lately?”

After leaving the booth, Matsui Kaoru, 68, shared their thoughts.

“My 91-year-old mother hardly speaks anymore and just watches TV all day,” Matsui said. “I thought this could help solve that. If she could talk to an AI character that looks and sounds like Byun-sama [actor Lee Byung-hun], she’d love it even more.”

Suzuki Masako, 69, who lives in Kobe, said the AI call took her by surprise.

“While talking to it, I ended up sharing memories about my husband who died five years ago, something I’d never done before,” she said.

Another section of the pavilion showcased Naver Cloud’s digital twin technology. By creating detailed virtual models linked to real-world data, the system can track user movements in real time. If it detects unusual behavior, it instantly alerts a control center, enabling rapid response.

Visitors on July 11 crowd Naver Cloud's booth at the 2025 World Expo in Osaka, Japan, which opened from July 9 to 11. [YONHAP]

Naver Cloud plans to wrap up preparations by the end of this year and formally expand the service in 2026. Building on Izumo’s success, the company aims to roll out AI CareCall across small- and mid-sized Japanese cities where demand for care for older people is high.

Kim Yu-won, CEO of Naver Cloud, said he hopes advanced tools like AI and digital twins will become essential parts of welfare infrastructure in aging societies.

“We want Naver’s technology to deliver tangible benefits to local communities,” he said. “We’ll keep expanding these services to make that happen."

Translated from the JoongAng Ilbo using generative AI and edited by Korea JoongAng Daily staff.
BY KANG KWANG-WOO [[email protected]]