Transcript
According to researchers at Auckland, Duke, and Cornell Universities, companion robots enhanced with artificial intelligence may one day help alleviate the loneliness epidemic. Their report, published in the journal Science Robotics, maps some of the ethical considerations for governments, policy makers, technologists, and clinicians, and urges stakeholders to come together to rapidly develop guidelines for trust, agency, engagement, and real-world efficacy. It also proposes a new way to measure whether a companion robot is helping someone.
According to the U.S. Surgeon General, loneliness may be as negative a health factor as smoking cigarettes. The number of Americans with no close friends has quadrupled since 1990, according to the Survey Center on American Life. Increased loneliness and social isolation may affect a third of the world population, and come with serious health consequences, such as increased risk for mental illness, obesity, dementia, and early death.
While it is increasingly difficult to make new friends as an adult to help offset loneliness, making a companion robot to support socially isolated adults may prove to be a promising solution. AI presents exciting opportunities to give companion robots greater skills to build social connection. But we need to be careful to build in rules to ensure they are moral and trustworthy.”
A growing body of research on companion robots suggests they can reduce stress and loneliness and can help isolated people remain healthy and active in their homes. Newer robots embedded with advanced AI programs may foster stronger social connections with humans than earlier generations of robots. Generative AI like ChatGPT, which is based on large language models, allows robots to engage in more spontaneous conversations, and even mimic the voices of old friends and loved ones who have passed away. Doctors are mostly on board, too.
A Sermo survey of 307 care providers across Europe and the United States showed that 69% of physicians agreed that social robots could provide companionship, relieve isolation, and potentially improve patients’ mental health. Seventy percent of doctors also felt insurance companies should cover the cost of companion robots if they prove to be an effective friendship supplement.
How to measure a robot’s impact, though, remains tricky.
This lack of measurability highlights the need to develop patient-rated outcome measures, such as the one being developed by the researchers. That metric known as the “Companion Robot Impact Scale” (or Co-Bot-I-7) aims to establish the impact on physical health and loneliness. And it shows that companion machines are already proving effective.
The researchers earlier research showed that that amiable androids help reduce stress and even promote skin healing after a minor wound. “With the right ethical guidelines,” the authors conclude in their report, “we may be able to build on current work to use robots to create a healthier society.”
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