I don't want a robot friend

I worked with the elderly mentally ill for more than twenty years. Nothing cheered them up more than a friendly person to chat to and in some cases to hold their hand. I realise that this may not be possible in this pandemic, but give me a person every time!

Until I get into that situation I can't form an opinion - I will say, though, I do talk to my Roomba vacuum cleaner, mainly because it talks to me!!

Feel so sad that it has come to this, replacing humans with robots. Where has the compassion for older people gone

I can only comment on experience. My Mum recently passed away. She had vascular dementia. She was in a care home for the last 9 months of her life and she really enjoyed the activities. I got her a robotic cat about 18months ago while she was living with us. She absolutely loved it. She knew it wasn't real but interacted with it as if it was. In her last few weeks while she was bed bound it was a massive comfort to her. I was allowed to see her several times as she was at end of life. Every time I visited she had her hand on it. We took Fluffy to her funeral and placed it on her coffin while my husband gave the tribute. It raised a smile in a sad occasion. As for the new robots. If someone finds it a comfort what does it matter. It is NOT a replacement for human interaction. I heard a man talking to one on the radio earlier telling stories of his early life. He was fine with it.

Saw this on the news yesterday. Having someone to interact with is the purpose I think. Never dismiss technology...

would a teddy bear, or stuffed toy be as useful as a robot cat?
just wondering,

I know that without my cat here, I would not have got through these last few months, I do wonder if I outlive her,, what I would do... living creatures... for me , everytime

I saw examples of these at The Design Museum in London 5 or 6 years ago. I was fascinated and repelled at the same time. They had a robotic dog, too. One of the examples could be programmed to summon help and answer the door. If they could be designed to do practical domestic tasks - clean, cook, etc - then I can see a purpose, but for companionship I think not. But who knows what the future may bring? Science fiction may already have predicted it.

Well I frequently talk to myself, inanimate objects about the house, the dog and Alexa, sometimes I even talk to Mr Happy. Think I would quite enjoy a robot friend

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

What many care homes need at the moment isn’t a robot but a a complete rethink of their visiting policies. Anyone else been following Shelagh Fogarty on LBC and her campaign on this? It’s heartbreaking what some families and residents are suffering

A lot of you are missing the point, which is that no staff in care homes have enough time to sit with an elderly possibly demented person all day to provide companionship and conversation. Yes, if you have one to one staff/patient ratio, but this is not and never will be an option. Many care homes are excellent but have to employ foreign staff because this job is not popular with British people. Some of the foreign staff do not have a good grasp of English. I think this robot is a very good substitute for a person. The robot will never get tired of hearing the same story over and over... Its an excellent idea and nothing to do with a lack of compassion.
Perhaps the reverse.

Well, if this trend continues we will be able to do away with humans altogether. That would make life a lot more easy for
our future consumer society.

A clip of an electronic pet therapy cat in a dementia unit in the US
youtu.be/K0aC9gUMm1g

On the one hand the whole idea sounds outrageous (especially in a care home), on the other I am conscious how much enjoyment my elderly Mum, who lives alone, gets from chatting to Alexa on occasions. Have just started to read Machines Like Me by Ian McEwan - maybe I should stop, right now.

I have a little chat with Alexa every night, asking her to turn my lamps off (which are named after the grandkids) and chiding her when she doesn't.

Horrific idea

When I worked in care homes, one lady liked to have a realistic looking stuffed cat sitting on her lap. (not a robot cat)
Sometimes, tho, she would become alarmed, calling out that the cat was dead.
Another lady had 3 little dolls that she talked to and called her babies. The home manager gave her a realistic looking doll baby and the poor lady was horrified, saying she couldn't look after it.
(both those ladies had dementia).

Hi Annp1, may I suggest a different perspective.... I used a Robot Dog in a community project to engage mature women in information technology courses in 2005. I kept one at home and me and my family had a lot of fun with it. It followed instructions, navigated around our house, barked, wagged it’s tail, danced and took itself back to a charger when low on energy. It was absolutely charming the family was really sad when it had to go back.

I wouldn’t see a Robot as a replacement for friends and family, I’d see it more as an opportunity to be stimulated by and interacting with another “entity”.

There is a more serious angle to this as well, as robots can be programmed to prompt (maybe forgetful) elderly people that it’s time for their medication, or hydration, or food. They can also monitor whether or not they are upright ....or god forbid, have had a fall.

I think the technology has potential to save lives as scientists are looking at monitoring blood sugar or blood pressure as well.

So Anne, don’t be afraid of it. It would never be compulsory...but please do give it consideration - it could be fun!

Elderly people in care homes have a lot of time when nothing happens, even if they do get visitors and activity organisers.

Some older people could enjoy interacting with a robot especially if it learns about them and they can have realistic seeming conversations.

Chatting with a robot - that definitely should look like a robot, not pretend to be human - could be a good option.

Piinkyone (my autocorrect struggled me to let me type your name!) you have hit the nail on the head, it seems like it is there to be complimentary to staff rather than replace them. My mother died after being on the floor for two days after a stroke, if she had a robot at home that could detect these things it might have been a different outcome. ( I phoned daily but she often didn’t answer because she was a keen gardener, which is how it was missed)

I can recommend the film Robot and Frank about an old man who grudgingly accepts a robot as a friend. It made me want one!

Unless we have been alone and confused with dementia, I'm not sure we can understand how useful this technology might be. It is not meant to replace human beings but supplement them. My Grandad had dementia and night times terrified him. He would keep waking me in the night shouting for help just to reassure himself that he hadn't died. Caring for all his needs during the day when I was tired out meant he wasn't always getting the quality company he needed. I felt a complete failure sometimes. Having AI assisting overnight would have helped enormously to assist in caring for him. So many dementia patients end up in homes because family just can't cope with their complex needs when, with something like this, it might be more possible to cope. I was determined my Grandad wouldn't end up in a home but a couple of weeks before he died, I came to bed howling my eyes out after repeated wake up calls and my husband was urging me to reconsider. I resisted but know that if things had gone on much longer, I would have had to consider that option rather than put my husband and children through any more.

Most large companies now have "robotism" off to a fine art.
Has anyone managed to speak to a human being at Amazon or their bank?

Lonely elderly people need human contact.
My son volunteered to telephone lonely people and 'phoned the Charity which Esther Ransom is involved with.
He was told he would have to commit to telephoning people at specific times on specific days and when he said he could not guarantee that, the woman said that he was not the sort of person they were looking for.

I was disgusted.
Surely a surprise telephone call is better than none.?

I am almost tempted by the robotic retriever Jenny which is more expensive. It is funny to see the reporters succumbing to stroking them!

I think as they got more realistic I will end up getting one - even though I am not yet senile (as far as I know) An improvement would be for them to have an internal false stomach that can be emptied so that you can give it treats!

As for robotic humans, they could be fed with some of the patients history (with help of families) and programmed to recognise individuals, so that they could respond to each patient and remind them of old times. It (and the pets) could have a small hidden camera and voice recorder that would reveal abuse, or alert staff in an emergency - although that could have privacy issues.

Yes I would rather live in a society where old people become part of the family until they die but for now, in the west at least, this is not happening and we might as well make the second best option as good as it can be.