Who says we're old? Seniors ring the AI golden bell with confidence

The classroom at Gwanggyo Senior Welfare Center was already crowded well before a digital-finance class began. The course had space for about 20 people, but demand had created a waiting list.

The class formed part of Kakao Impact's Senior Teacher program, which has operated since 2024. The foundation selects people aged 60 and older who want to become senior teachers, gives them eight weeks of digital-instructor training and sends them to senior welfare centers across South Korea. About 120 senior teachers are teaching this year. After lessons on digital public services such as Kakao Map in July and August, the autumn curriculum turned to digital finance and artificial intelligence.

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It feels good to see how I looked back then!

Four senior teachers worked as a team. One led the lesson while the others moved around the room helping students use their devices. They checked participants' phones before class, then began with the basics of the home screen. Instructor Kim Chae-hyun explained what artificial intelligence is, how it differs from an internet search and what it can do. Students tested ChatGPT's microphone function, asked it about cataracts and uploaded a photograph of a blue whale for identification and description.

The class also used image-generation tools. Students uploaded photographs of themselves and asked ChatGPT to show them “20 years younger,” then converted the images into a Ghibli-style look. Smiles spread across the room as participants saw fuller hair and fewer wrinkles. One student said, “It feels good to see how I looked back then!”

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We are not growing old, but learning and growing wiser. Let's go!

The second session featured an AI version of the traditional Golden Bell quiz. Students wrote answers on individual boards after decorating them with names and messages. One message caught the reporter's attention: “We are not growing old, but learning and growing wiser. Let's go!”

During the break, 76-year-old Oh Seon-gyun said learning digital skills felt like gaining new sight. She said she had learned to call a Kakao taxi and was studying online transfers, navigation and asking AI questions, although she often forgot how to put what she learned into practice. The visiting reporters concluded that older people should not be lumped together as a digitally vulnerable group. They may find the AI era unfamiliar, they said, but they are not vulnerable.

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Learning digital skills makes the world feel brighter. I recently learned how to call a Kakao taxi, and now I can ride one. I am so happy.