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People here have often managed to trace back

the online information to the unnamed virus

carriers, exposing embarrassing personal details

and making them targets of public contempt.

A low point came in early May when local

media described some Seoul nightclubs linked

to hundreds of infections as catering to sexual

minorities, triggering homophobic responses.

Officials reacted by expanding “anonymous

testing,” which allowed people to provide only

their phone numbers and not their names during

tests. There was a subsequent increase in tests.

The past months have exposed a stark division

about the best ways to make important

decisions when privacy concerns collide with

public health needs, said Haksoo Ko, a Seoul

National University law professor and co-

director of the school’s Artificial Intelligence

Policy Initiative.

Around 3,200 people across the country, mostly

older than 70 and living alone, have so far

allowed the SK Telecom speakers to listen to

them 24 hours a day since the service launched

in April 2019.

The company expects users to at least double

by the end of the year, judging by local

government interest. The technology has

reduced human contact in welfare services

while still providing governments with a tool

to prevent elderly residents from dying alone.

That’s especially needed in a country grappling

with an aging population and high poverty rates

among retirees.

The speakers are built with an artificial

intelligence called “Aria” and a lamp that

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