Say "Call me a taxi to Seoul Station" into a smartphone, and the Kakao T app opens automatically, sets the destination to Seoul Station and proceeds to the booking step. Say "Log my fasting blood sugar as 90 today," and the Sonmok Doctor 9988 app launches and records the figure as 90.
The Seoul AI Foundation announced on the 17th that it officially launched Malhamyeon Chokchok on the 13th as part of the Seoul Metropolitan Government's "Walking Together with the Vulnerable" policy. The mobile AI agent lets seniors, people with disabilities and other digitally underserved users access public services with a single voice command. The policy is Seoul's inclusive-growth brand aimed at providing robust support to socially vulnerable groups in areas such as livelihood, residential welfare, healthcare and education, ensuring equal opportunity and narrowing gaps.
Malhamyeon Chokchok is an action-oriented AI agent that not only launches the required app by voice but also carries out the desired function within it. Users can access a wide range of lifestyle services with a single spoken phrase, without navigating complex menus or manually entering lengthy information.
The service was developed in line with the "Walking Together with the Vulnerable" initiative that Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon has continued to emphasize into his ninth elected term, with the goal of using AI to ease everyday digital friction for underserved users and improve access to public services.
The service currently links to nine apps in total: six public apps — Sonmok Doctor 9988, Seoul Donghang Map, Seoul Disabled Call Taxi, Seoul Digital Donghang Plaza, Ddotta Subway and Korail Talk — and three private apps — Kakao T, Baemin and YouTube.
Malhamyeon Chokchok supports voice-only access to services that citizens use frequently, including health record logging, education reservations, mobility support for people with disabilities and public transit information.
A user who wants to book a digital literacy class at a Donghang Plaza center can simply say "Reserve an education session at Donghang Plaza," and the agent will launch the Seoul Digital Donghang Plaza app and navigate directly to the program reservation screen.
Malhamyeon Chokchok is available as a free download on the Google Play Store and currently supports Android smartphones.
To mark the official launch, the foundation plans to run a public participation event and will continue to identify high-demand public and private services to expand the app's linked functions, further developing AI-based lifestyle services going forward.
"Malhamyeon Chokchok does not simply understand what citizens say — it connects them directly to the services they need and carries out the action," foundation chairman Kim Man-gi said. "We will keep expanding the service so that all citizens can conveniently use complex digital technology through AI, and we will build Seoul into an inclusive AI city where no one is left behind."
cook@heraldcorp.com