South Korea, a country at the forefront of technological innovation, appears to be using the pandemic to build back lonelier, if this report of its plans for an “untact” society (one that minimises face-to-face human contact, especially with strangers) are right. You may think that sounds like a nightmare, but there will be contact-free solutions to help you with that too.

Loneliness among elderly people – an existing problem in South Korea only exacerbated by the pandemic – is also receiving the untact treatment.

SK Telecom’s AI Care service is among several being deployed across the country that allows seniors living alone to interact with an AI speaker by asking it to play music, have a simple conversation, perform quizzes, or even call for help in an emergency. The system has reportedly reduced loneliness among users, and even been credited with saving lives by the country’s president.

Using innovation to streamline the routines of everyday life makes sense, but quite a lot of the point of everyday life is to spend it in human company. Let’s hope it doesn’t give Number Ten any ideas.