South Korea | Korea's AI seniors: "Age doesn't play a role in learning"

Older people learn how to use AI-powered applications in a course at Seoul Open City University in Seoul. Photo: AFP/Jade Gao When Lee Eun-hwa begins her lesson, her good mood is downright contagious. »You can copy the address. Does that work for you?” says the teacher in a slow tone as she points to a huge screen behind her. The YouTube app is then open. “The copy symbol looks like two sheets of paper are on top of each other, doesn’t it?” Lee asks the group loudly.

Her students sit in the stands, each with a computer in front of them. The participants in the digital learning center on the eastern outskirts of Seoul are more exemplary in their curiosity and motivation than any high school class. It's just that most people don't hear quite as clearly anymore, and some wear glasses with thick lenses. But that's exactly the point of the matter: Teacher Lee teaches older people how to use digital platforms and artificial intelligence. 

“There is a growing digital divide and I want to break it,” says Lee after class. “Above all, I want to teach my participants how they can use technology to make their lives more entertaining.” After all, you should first learn what you enjoy.

Student Yoon Bok-soon, 72 years old, agrees. The Korean comes to the digital learning center twice a week and her progress is impressive. »I used to always have to ask my children how to do things – like online shopping. Now I can do it myself,” says Yoon.

»I used to always have to ask my children how to do things – like online shopping. Now I can do it myself.”

But her passion for digital goes far beyond that. "I've always liked music and painting - now I've learned a new hobby with my smartphone," says the senior citizen with a beaming smile. She proudly shows off her cell phone display and scrolls through her own YouTube channel. She first started by uploading her own pictures - flower arrangements and landscape paintings - and using AI programs to bring them to life in small video sequences. She now also talks about Japanese anime series on her channel, analyzes books like “The Little Prince” and the Sisyphus myth, and publishes poems she has written herself. The content is accompanied by AI-generated video sequences.

There are currently 69 such state-funded digital learning centers across the country. By 2029, the Ministry of Science and Information Technology (MSIT) wants to increase the number of such institutions to almost 230 in the next three years. »AI should not be reserved exclusively for experts, but should be a tool from which everyone benefits - including marginalized groups such as older people. It should noticeably improve their quality of life in everyday life,” says Lee Do-gyu, General Director at MSIT.

Anyone who walks through the digital learning center on the eastern outskirts of Seoul will encounter an almost surreal world of experience: an old woman with a permed hairstyle has just put on virtual reality glasses, a corner further on you can play with a robot dog, and next to it there is a digital self-service terminal where you can order burgers on a trial basis. 

What seems fun has a serious background. In fact, South Korea is the fastest aging society in the world. A fifth of the population is now over 65 years old - and the trend is rising. At the same time, the country on the Han River with its leading global chip industry is also part of the digital avant-garde. 

This leads to complications for some population groups. In fact, everyday life in South Korea can hardly be mastered without basic digital skills. You often need a smartphone app to reserve doctor's appointments, as is the case when buying train tickets. And anyone who wants to place an order in a restaurant or café usually has to do so using a digital machine.

»I am 83 years old. But age doesn’t play a role when it comes to learning,” says Seo Jong-hyun, a handsome senior with a can-do attitude. He is also a student in the digital learning center. »I initially came here because I wanted to learn Excel. But that wasn’t fun,” says Seo. But the Koreans' passion took hold of the AI ​​course. »It really made my life better. The smartphone has now become my personal assistant: the AI ​​gives me information about medical things or helps me with my travel plans," says Seo. He now also has his own YouTube channel where he gives his peers advice on living a healthy life. Every now and then he gets a like.

However, digital change has also left negative traces in South Korea. Where there were lively market alleys 15 years ago, there are now vacancies: shopping is only done online. Spontaneous conversations in the neighborhood, while waiting for the bus or in the office elevator have also become rare. The vast majority of Koreans always go about their everyday lives with their smartphone display turned up.

The extent to which digitalization is also exacerbating the loneliness crisis is difficult to prove empirically. But the fact is: South Korea suffers from one of the highest suicide rates in the world, and the numbers rise disproportionately as people get older. Men over the age of 80 are most affected. As a study published last year in the "Journal of the Korean Medical Association" states, social isolation is one of the decisive factors.

In 2025, the authorities registered almost 4,000 “godoksa” – in German: lonely dead. Most of them are older men who die without relatives or close acquaintances. The state often takes over the funeral ritual that, according to Korean tradition, is necessary so that the soul can find peace.

But you will hardly find a nostalgic look in South Korea. “After the Korean War, we were an agricultural country and now we live in the AI ​​era,” says Mr. Seo pragmatically. »Of course I am also worried about what future we will see. But that doesn’t mean we should stop learning.”

His classmate Yoon Bok-soon sees it similarly: »As soon as you win something in life, you also lose something. But overall, the changes make me feel positive." Of course, once you get to a certain age, you don't communicate as much with your children, says Yoon. But now she shares her everyday life via the Internet.

The »nd.Genossenschaft« belongs to its readers and authors. They are the ones who make our journalism accessible to everyone through their contribution: We are not backed by a media company, not a large advertising customer or even a billionaire.

Thanks to the support of our community we can:

→ report independently and critically → shine a light on topics that otherwise remain in the shadows → give space to voices that are often silenced → counter disinformation with facts → strengthen and deepen left-wing perspectives

With “Voluntarily pay” you contribute to the financing of our newspaper in solidarity. So that nd remains.