Korea University to use AI and interdisciplinary research to prevent ‘social isolation’ from youth to old age

[Financial News]  As ‘social isolation’—including solitary deaths among young people and the rise in single-person households—emerges as a serious social problem, universities and local governments are joining forces to tackle isolation using artificial intelligence (AI) and digital technology.
Korea University’s KU Mind Health Research Institute said on the 12th that it will hold a launch ceremony on the 16th for the consortium “Interdisciplinary Research for Understanding Social Isolation Across the Life Course and Restoring Social Connections” at the university’s SK Future Hall in Seongbuk-gu, Seoul.
The study does not view social isolation merely as a problem affecting a particular age group or an individual’s psychological well-being. Instead, it approaches isolation as a complex social problem that can arise at any point in life, from childhood to old age. Experts from fields including psychology, public health and sociology will work together to study how AI and digital technology can identify and prevent the risk of isolation in advance.
A key feature of the project is that it aims to produce policies that can be used in real-world settings, rather than theories that remain confined to the lab. Korea University plans to work with the Seoul Metropolitan Government on its isolation-prevention policies and with agencies supporting single-person households, among others, to develop prevention programs, manuals and policy reports suited to Korea’s circumstances.
The project is being carried out after being selected for the Ministry of Education’s Global Humanities and Social Sciences Convergence Research Support Program. Led by Korea University’s KU Mind Health Research Institute, it will also involve the university’s Institute for Research on an Aging Society, Kyung Hee University and Japan’s Musashino University. The researchers plan to compare the state of social isolation in Korea and Japan and establish international evaluation criteria.
Choi Ki-hong, the principal investigator and director of the KU Mind Health Research Institute, said, “Social isolation is not a problem affecting only one person or a particular generation; it is a challenge our society must tackle together,” adding, “Drawing on research from a range of disciplines, we will develop solutions that can be put to immediate use in policymaking and local communities.”

[email protected] Kim Man-gi Reporter