As someone who is minoring in cultural Anthropology, I have had exposure to countless different cultures around the world. One facet of American culture that I see as vastly different than the majority of the world is our treatment of elders. In the vast majority of other cultures elders are taken care of, either by the entire community or by their family. In America most seniors are in nursing homes, or living by theirselves.
Admittedly I hadn’t given this discrepancy that much thought, as all of my grandparents died before I was born or when I was a baby. However, I recently finished a book called Being Mortal by Atul Gawande. This book explored what it meant to be an aging citizen in America, and how our unique environment affects the way you face your imminent demise. And as it turns out, senior citizens in America have drastically higher rates of depression than most other countries in the world. This is due to a lack of interpersonal communication. Which can be attributed to the way our society is structured, and changing the entire structure to match these other countries is almost impossible at this point.
Enter robots. As it turns out senior citizens aren’t looking for all that much complexity in interaction. They just want someone there. Thus the invention of ElliQ, a service not too unlike that of Siri or Alexa. What makes ElliQ unique is that is was designed to introduce meaningful connections instead of listening to commands. This means that ElliQ will spontaneously talk to its user, it has a face that can indicate emotion, and remember what its user is interested in. ElliQ is also designed to boost human interaction. It detects if there is more than one person in the room, and will remain inactive until there is only one person and it reminds both the user and the user’s family to send pictures and video chat. Perhaps most impressively the ElliQ satisfies the basic human need of being noticed. When a user looks at the ElliQ, the ElliQ looks back, as to make the user feel seen. This may not seem like much, but for some people it means the world.
While it is understandable that you might feel weird about your grammy becoming best friends with a robot, the ElliQ is fixing a problem that most people refuse to even acknowledge exists. And as I think about myself 50 years in the future, I think I would prefer a robot friend over no friends. While the ElliQ is not yet available to the public, it’s first two trials have been very successful. So in the next couple of years you might be meeting nana or papa’s new friend Eli.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/on-demand-grandkids-and-robot-pals-technology-strives-to-cure-senior-loneliness-11550898010
ElliQ is interesting robot. I am also interested in silver industry where elders need help to live their daily life easier and more comfortable. Nowadays, people are living longer than ever. Life expectancy has high rocketed since people try to overcome lots of diseases such as cancer or diabetes. So the age group above 65, who cannot work properly anymore, are seeking to get their hobby and relax. At this point, people in this age group tend to live separate from their children and gets lonely. I know there can be a cultural differences that can make my opinion controversial, I am assuming most people live separate. Then the silver industry comes in for those lonely people, like ElliQ, to make them feel more happy and comfortable. For ElliQ, they can even interact with AI technology and make people smile.
I think silver industry is getting bigger than ever. Those industry will shine for babyboomers (in 1944-1964) and definately ElliQ is one of the leading company in this industry.
Source: https://communityrising.kasasa.com/gen-x-gen-y-gen-z/
As technology is booming with new developments nearly everywhere we turn, those on the younger side are able to quickly adapt to whatever change has been made. We have grown up in the presence of technology, therefore it’s in our nature to adjust to its ever-changing style. What people realize but never do much about is consider how older people can benefit from technology. Unless they’re family, it’s quite easy to forget that there are some elderly people who live alone, therefore live an arguably dull lifestyle. There can be many ways in which an older demographic can benefit from technology, but their lack of knowledge about these devices hinders their ability to use them to their advantage.
I think that the ElliQ is a great innovation for a number of reasons, but mostly for those who live alone and far from their relatives. Although less intimate, having the ability to have some sort of interaction can be a blessing for many people. There is a certain human need for attention that is difficult to deny, and if there are no real people around to lend it to you, a robot is an alright second option.
I hadn’t heard of this new robot before this post, but it is actually very interesting. Like you, I hadn’t given too much thought into the treatment of elders in our country because my grandparents all still live on their own. You mention this like it is a negative thing, but in reality, this is mostly their choice. Either way, does a robot that interacts with elders really solve the underlying problem that you are speaking about? A robot that is designed to imitate human emotion is doing just that- imitating. It seems like the main problem that you talk about in your post is that senior citizens are living without interaction from their family and loved ones. So why is sticking a robot in their home, just so they have something to talk to, a solution to this problem? Maybe there is something else that needs to be looked at regarding senior citizens and how we treat them. To me, this does not solve the problem of not respecting our elders, I actually think it does the opposite. It seems like this “solution” is actually disregarding the humanity of elderly people by minimizing them down to just wanting any kind of interaction. I think that we have to look deeper at ourselves and our interactions with our elders before sticking them with some robot who knows how to talk.
https://www.technologyreview.com/s/609074/how-we-feel-about-robots-that-feel/
Just as robotics and other elements are being used for different purposes these days, life is evolving and becoming more and more based off of not what one has to do for themselves, but what can be done for them. Just like robotic companions, one can also have robots do other things for them. For example, one can order a self-cleaning litter box for their little friend: https://www.litter-robot.com/litter-robot-3.html?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI2b_4i_yt4QIVBB6GCh2wVw8qEAQYASABEgLAcfD_BwE. This not only eliminates smell, but also makes having a pet that much easier in the long run. Mixing the self-cleaning litter box and ElliQ, life is just that much easier. Try it out!