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🇰🇷 South Korea /Health & Science

AI Kiosks to Offer Mental Health Counseling for Korean Youth

From Hankyoreh · () Korean

Translated from Korean, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

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  • South Korea's North Chungcheong Province is launching a pilot program using AI-powered kiosks to provide mental health counseling for teenagers.
  • The initiative, a collaboration between the provincial government, SK Hynix, and other organizations, aims to help youth struggling with issues like school violence and academic stress.
  • The AI system will analyze emotional states through voice and video, identify at-risk individuals, and guide them toward professional counseling, with plans for multilingual support in the future.

Teenagers in South Korea facing psychological and emotional difficulties, such as school bullying, academic pressure, and family conflicts, will soon have access to a new AI-powered mental health support system. North Chungcheong Province is spearheading this initiative, a first of its kind in the nation, in partnership with SK Hynix, the provincial education office, and other social welfare organizations.

The project, tentatively named 'High Mind Chungbuk,' aims to develop an AI-based emotional analysis program called 'Mind On.' This program will utilize voice and video recognition to identify and analyze emotions like anger, fear, sadness, happiness, and surprise. By detecting emotional changes and identifying at-risk individuals early, it will facilitate referrals to professional counselors.

The focus is on enabling teenagers experiencing psychological and emotional difficulties to diagnose and measure their condition independently, without being conscious of their surroundings, and to connect them with counseling and education.

— Yoon Eun-jungAn official from the North Chungcheong Province Youth Team, explaining the system's purpose.

Initially, two AI kiosks equipped with the 'Mind On' program will be installed in youth centers. The system is designed to allow teenagers to discreetly assess their mental state without fear of judgment. Future plans include expanding the service with multilingual support for Vietnamese and Chinese speakers by 2027-2028 and increasing the number of installations in schools and youth facilities.

"The focus is on enabling teenagers experiencing psychological and emotional difficulties to diagnose and measure their condition independently, without being conscious of their surroundings, and to connect them with counseling and education," said Yoon Eun-jung, an official from the North Chungcheong Province Youth Team. "We believe that collaboration between corporations and institutions in education and administration can yield efficiency and effectiveness. We hope this nationwide first project will serve as a model for the country."

We believe that collaboration between corporations and institutions in education and administration can yield efficiency and effectiveness. We hope this nationwide first project will serve as a model for the country.

— Yoon Eun-jungAn official from the North Chungcheong Province Youth Team, expressing expectations for the AI mental health initiative.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by Hankyoreh in Korean. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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