Aapo AI service will call older people for regular chats

Finnish technology company Vivonep plans to launch Aapo, a phone-based AI conversation service aimed especially at older people living alone, later this year, Yle reports.

Aapo works through a regular phone, with no separate app. It calls users at agreed times to provide regular conversation and help structure their day. The service has been tested in different parts of Finland, including Pori, and feedback from older people and health professionals is being used to develop it.

During a pilot call, Yle reporter Soila Ojanen spoke with Ella, the service’s female-voiced AI. She found that the AI rephrased her comments fluently, but its responses took time. It also did not introduce new topics, leaving her to steer the conversation.

Rae-Marja Vataja, 81, tested the service for about two weeks. She said she planned topics in advance, often starting with the weather, and still had to come up with much of the conversation herself. Vivonep founder Kalle Rehakka said reducing the response delay is a development priority.

The monthly price has not been set, but Rehakka estimated it would be in the tens of euros and below 50 euros. The service is designed to learn what each user likes to discuss. Vivonep says conversation data will not be used for marketing and that the AI will not give medical advice.

Ulla Buchert, a digital affairs specialist at the Office of the Ombudsman for Older People, said older people have varied interests and questioned whether developers had asked them what topics they wanted to discuss. She also raised the possibility that an AI could be too agreeable, making it a less engaging conversation partner than a person.

Rehakka said the service was developed in part in response to the shrinking social lives some people experience as they age, and that people living alone at home may benefit most.