SK Telecom unveils AI agent that handles taxes, hospital bookings by voice

SK Telecom, selected as the operator of the government's "Modu's AI" initiative, declared Tuesday the dawn of an era in which a single voice command can handle everything from paying taxes to booking a hospital appointment.

The Modu's AI app — working title — aims to make proactive welfare services a reality, lowering the barrier to AI agent use for young people and seniors so that everyone can rely on AI in their daily lives.

Kim Ji-hoon, head of SK Telecom's AI business division, laid out the blueprint at the Modu's AI Group Briefing held Tuesday at SKT T Tower in Jung-gu, Seoul.

SK Telecom envisions Modu's AI as an action-oriented agent that can also place calls and send texts on a user's behalf — targeting young people and seniors as its primary users to reshape everyday life.

Unlike a conventional chatbot that merely provides answers, the agentic AI takes action. Through Goodoc, a healthcare company in the SK Telecom consortium, users will be able to check waiting times and reviews for nearby hospitals and make reservations directly through the app.

For digitally underserved users who struggle with technology, the agent can make phone calls or send text messages on their behalf. Information that is hard to find through a web search can be obtained via calls or texts. The service will use dedicated phone numbers — such as 1532 and 1000 — assigned for specific purposes.

Public services will shift from an application-based model to a proactive one. If a user is eligible for a welfare benefit they have not yet claimed, the app will notify and encourage them to apply. Government documents currently available through the Gov24 portal will also be requestable by phone. Small-business owners will be able to check and manage tax filings and sales records through the app.

SK Telecom plans to build Modu's AI as an open ecosystem and expand it across a wide range of services. That is why venture capital firm Altos Ventures joined the consortium — it has a track record of investing in large-scale platforms including Karrot and Coupang Inc.

"We also expect to connect with various businesses and developers through Hashed, which has an extensive developer and investment network," Kim said.

SK Telecom has set a target of 5 million monthly active users this year and 10 million next year across the Modu's AI app, web and phone channels.

However, the company still faces hurdles: token efficiency, security and stability, and questions of liability.

SK Telecom is prioritizing domestic AI models over global ones. "We plan to define tasks — general conversation, multi-turn dialogue, reasoning and workflow — and use not only A.X K2 but also models such as Motif and Solar," Kim said.

Token efficiency — optimizing the data units that AI processes — is another challenge. SK Telecom plans to rely solely on government-supplied GPUs through next year, but cannot rule out the need for additional GPUs if the service scales and the user base grows. With no clear monetization model in place, the cost burden on the company is real.

Security and liability are also concerns. Beyond cybersecurity, the question of who bears responsibility for user harm caused by AI hallucinations cannot be ignored. Shinhan Card and Hana Card are both part of the consortium, and agent-based payment verification is under discussion, making these considerations all the more pressing.

"Security firm AIM Intelligence has joined the consortium and is building an agent security framework, and a red team has been assembled to identify and address potential vulnerabilities in advance," Kim said.

He added that it is important to design sensitive areas — such as tax, finance and healthcare — so that AI responses alone do not drive major decisions or actions. "For high-stakes areas like financial transactions, rather than expanding from the outset, we will take a phased approach starting with services that carry relatively lower risk and are easy for users to try," he said.