The News, Explained
Kakao Impact announced on October 19 that the finals of its National Senior AI Golden Bell competition had concluded on October 15. The Cheongju Naedeok Senior Welfare Center team won the top prize, the Minister of Science and ICT Award. The announcement reports the results of a competition for graduates of a digital-education program. Source
The finals comprised three assessment stages covering basic AI knowledge, AI and digital-life/safety knowledge, and practical use of ChatGPT for Kakao. Participants entered answers through a mobile game app. The event linked Kakao’s Pangyo Agit with 16 local senior welfare centers online so that teams could participate from their regions. Source
The existing curriculum gives a more concrete picture of the everyday activities behind AI practice. The official life-education page lists ways to ask ChatGPT questions through text or photographs in KakaoTalk. It also covers public services, sharing photographs and making video calls, navigation and transport, payments and responding to financial scams, and personal-information protection. These are the topics listed in the published curriculum. Source
The participation figures describe two different stages. Eligibility was limited to people aged 60 and older who had completed the Visiting Senior Digital School program. Preliminaries ran from May 29 through October 6 at 150 senior welfare centers, with approximately 3,000 participants according to the foundation. Sixteen representative institutions were selected, each sending a four-person team, for a total of 64 finalists. Source
The foundation’s reported average age of 71.9 years applies to those 64 finalists. The relevant group is therefore the people who completed the program and advanced through the preliminaries. Reading the average alongside the finalist count makes clear whose participation the figure describes. Source
Readers interested in the teaching topics can consult the official life-education page and its tutorial-video link. The same page marks the 2026 recruitment of participating senior welfare centers as closed. It provides a place to explore the curriculum while separately showing the status of institutional applications for visiting classes. Source
OYOPICK’s Take
We see the competition’s combination of foundational knowledge, everyday safety and hands-on use as a useful reference when choosing AI education for older adults. The official curriculum likewise puts text and photo questions alongside personal-information protection. People comparing courses for themselves or family members can look at what learners practice entering and how the teaching addresses privacy and everyday safety.
We would welcome future reports on which everyday tasks graduates could repeat independently after some time had passed, and where they still needed help. Alongside the achievements of the 64 finalists, such follow-up evidence could help prospective learners and teaching organizations decide what practice and support to continue in daily life.