In Yongin, South Korea, five-year-old goldendoodle Mozzi exhibited an unusual gait, prompting his owner, Mo Jae-hyun, to rush him to the vet. However, the diagnosis didn’t come from a human—Mozzi’s condition was analyzed by cutting-edge AI technology.
South Korea, a global leader in chip production and AI innovations, is now applying this expertise to the pet care sector. The AI tool, “X Caliber,” is transforming veterinary diagnostics by quickly identifying abnormalities on X-rays. Within seconds, it provided Mo with detailed insights into Mozzi’s 22% risk of knee dislocation. While the condition wasn’t urgent, the early warning allowed Mo to take preventative steps to avoid potential surgery.
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| South Korea leads in AI-driven pet care with technologies like "X Caliber," revolutionizing veterinary diagnostics and transforming the pet healthcare industry |
“I trust my vet, but having the AI results in front of me made the diagnosis more credible,” Mo said, underscoring the confidence AI instills in pet owners.
Developed by telecom giant SK Telecom, X Caliber has achieved an 86% disease detection rate, according to the company. It has notably sped up diagnostic processes, as demonstrated in heart disease cases where AI can measure vertebral heart size (VHS) in just 15 seconds—a task that previously required manual calculation.
Global Expansion and AI Healthcare
SK Telecom sees X Caliber as just the beginning of its foray into AI healthcare. Already available in the U.S., Australia, and parts of Southeast Asia, the technology is proving invaluable in countries like Indonesia, where a shortage of trained radiologists makes veterinary diagnostics challenging.
“In Indonesia, radiology education is scarce, and the demand for expertise is high,” said Kristanya Oen, a veterinary hospital owner. X Caliber has helped bridge this gap by enabling quicker and more accurate diagnostics.
SK Telecom, a part of the same conglomerate as SK Hynix, is well-positioned to lead the AI healthcare revolution. SK Hynix, the first to release high-bandwidth memory chips, enables faster data processing required for AI’s more complex tasks. Despite recent concerns over AI investment returns, SK Group’s CEO Chey Tae-won remains committed to the technology, announcing an 80 trillion won ($60 billion) investment in AI chips, services, and data centers.
A Growing Pet Care Market
In South Korea, where more households are opting for pets instead of children, AI-driven pet care innovations seem a natural fit. Official figures show that pet ownership has nearly doubled over the past decade. One in four households now has at least one pet, and in 2022, more pet strollers were sold than baby strollers on the popular e-commerce platform Gmarket.
The country’s pet care industry was valued at 8 trillion won ($6 billion) in 2022, a fourfold increase from five years earlier. With government support through loans and tax incentives, South Korea aims to double this market by 2027.
Capitalizing on this trend, local companies are developing AI-based pet products like “smart toilets” for detecting urinary diseases and “smart leashes” that track pulse and body temperature.
“Devices that can monitor a range of health issues in pets will likely expand, as AI becomes more integrated into daily pet care,” said Kim Soo-kyung, a senior manager at the Economic Research Institute at KPMG Korea.
As South Korea continues to innovate in both AI and pet care, the bond between humans and their furry companions is set to deepen with technology playing a key role in keeping pets healthy and happy.
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