A Study on the Changes in Social Perception of AI Care Robots through News Big Data

This study examines the evolving social perception of AI based care robots amid the challenges of a super aged society and a shortage of care workers. Drawing on the Social Shaping of Technology (SST) framework, 7,237 Naver News articles (2015–2025) were analyzed using BERTopic to identify key themes. The results show that early media coverage emphasized technological development and industrial competitiveness, while more recent reporting highlights ethical and social dimensions of AI care robots. This shift indicates a reconstruction of their social meaning from an economic object to a social and ethical one. Academically, the study elucidates how media discourse shapes technological meaning over time. Practically, it underscores the need for policy efforts that foster social trust and ethical standards, suggesting that care robots should be approached as social innovation addressing societal challenges.