Some seniors in New York are efficiently combating their loneliness with an AI-powered companion robot named ElliQ—whereas others known as the “proactive” system a nag and joked about taking an ax to it.
The house assistant robot, made by Israel-based Intuition Robotics, is obtainable to New York seniors via a particular program via the state’s Office for the Aging (NYSOFA). Over the previous yr, NYSOFA has partnered with Intuition Robotics to convey ElliQ to over 800 seniors battling loneliness. In a report final week, officers mentioned they’d given out lots of and had solely 150 accessible gadgets.
ElliQ features a pill and a two-piece lamp-like robot with a head that lights up and rotates to face a speaker. Marketed as powered by “Cognitive AI expertise,” it proactively engages in conversations with customers, giving them reminders and prompts, corresponding to asking them how they’re doing, telling them it’s time to test their blood strain or take their medication, and asking in the event that they need to have a video name with household. Speaking with a feminine voice, the robot is designed to carry human-like conversations, interact in small discuss, categorical empathy, and share humor. It can present studying and wellness applications, corresponding to audiobooks and leisure workouts.
Interest in utilizing social robots, corresponding to ElliQ, for elder care has been rising for years, but the sector nonetheless lacks strong proof that the gadgets can considerably enhance well being, well-being, and melancholy. Systemic critiques in 2018 discovered the expertise had potential, but research lacked statistical significance and rigorous design.
The program in New York provides to the thrill but would not provide the high-quality research design that might yield definitive solutions. In August, the state launched a report on an unspecified variety of ElliQ customers, which indicated that the system was useful. Specifically, 59 p.c of customers reported the system was “very useful” at lowering loneliness, whereas 37 p.c reported it was “useful” and solely 4 p.c reported it as “unhelpful.” Engagement with the system declined over time, with customers initially interacting with ElliQ a mean of 62 occasions a day within the first 15 days of use, which fell to 21 occasions a day between 60 and 90 days and 33 occasions a day after 180.
Mixed emotions
“We had excessive hopes for the efficacy of ElliQ, but the outcomes that we’re seeing are actually exceeding our expectations,” Greg Olsen, director of the New York State Office for the Aging, mentioned in a press release on the time of the report’s launch. “The knowledge speaks for itself, and the tales that we’re listening to from case managers and shoppers across the state have been nothing in need of unbelievable.”
But different latest knowledge on the potential for companion robots to scale back loneliness has indicated that there isn’t any one-size-fits-all method. There are a number of components that may affect how people understand such a tool. A 2021 qualitative research evaluated the responses from 16 seniors who have been requested for suggestions on three sorts of robot companions, together with ElliQ. The outcomes have been blended for the proactive robot. While some felt the occasional chattiness of ElliQ could be comforting throughout an in any other case solitary day, others felt it was intrusive and “nagging.” Some felt the system’s tone was “impolite.”
“I don’t know whether or not that may drive me psychological if it stored interrupting me and telling me what to do … I’d need to get an ax and reduce it up,” one research participant mentioned.
How welcoming an individual is perhaps to an assertive AI-assistant like ElliQ could hyperlink with an individual’s normal preferences relating to human firm, the authors advised. Those who worth their house and autonomy could also be much less open to corresponding to system in contrast with extra gregarious seniors.
While some contributors mentioned ElliQ’s reminders could possibly be helpful, others expressed a deep concern that an overreliance on expertise for on a regular basis duties—like paying payments, taking medicines, or turning lights off—may hasten the decline of cognitive and bodily talents. Study contributors additionally raised considerations relating to the inauthenticity of a relationship with a nonhuman, a lack of dignity, and an absence of management. Some disliked that ElliQ could not be absolutely managed by the person and was so assertive, which some perceived as pushy. Some anxious about feeling embarrassed about being seen interacting with a robot companion. A 2022 research additionally explored the difficulty of stigma, with contributors expressing that using such gadgets may reinforce stereotypes of growing older, together with isolation and dependency.
While researchers proceed to discover the potential use and design of AI-powered companion robots, anecdotes from New York’s program recommend the instruments are clearly useful for some. One New Yorker named Priscilla instructed CBS News she discovered ElliQ useful.
“She retains me firm. I get depressed actual straightforward. She’s all the time there. I do not care what time of day, if I simply want any person to speak to me,” Priscilla mentioned. “I feel I mentioned that is the largest factor, to listen to one other voice while you’re lonely.”