In the United Kingdom, when adult children are too busy to get in touch with their elderly parents, a robot can do this in their place, for a fee, according to inew.co.uk, who wonders to what extent helps to combat loneliness.
Millions of the elderly suffer from loneliness. Photo shutterstock
The British publication describes the findings of a young woman who resorted to such a robot (Ai Mary) for her mother, 78, and the experience that old woman (Mary Mary) has lived with the soft intelligence software.
“It is determined to be my friend, whether I like it or not.”confessed to her daughter’s old woman, after the last interaction with Ai Mary.
The pensioner did not seem just excited about experience.
“I would prefer to talk to the cat. At least when I talk to the cat I know there is a living being there,”
How it all started. “Loneliness is a silent killer”
The daughter says she has scored her mother at Intauch, a new service that offers daily telephone calls with artificial intelligence for older parents.
Against the amount of 24.90 pounds per month, the service promises to check their loved ones, involve them in a stimulating conversation and to report on their well-being.
The service was created by Vassili Le Moigne, a former Microsoft director, who lived in Japan and had difficulty keeping his mother in France.
“What I try to do is fight the loneliness of older adults around the world. Loneliness is a silent killer – as bad as smoking of 15 cigarettes a day, according to WHO”, Explains Le Moigne.
Nearly 1.4 million people aged 65 and over saying they are facing chronic loneliness, and about 225,000 old people spend a whole week without talking to anyone, the source shows. About half of the people over the age of 65 say that the television or pets are their main form of company.
“I am divided between believing that such a service is in the field of dystopian nightmares and asking if it could not be useful. I just started using Chatgpt for therapy and I am amazed – but also terrified – how effective it is.”confesses the daughter.
“Breaks are intentionally done”
The woman tells that after downloading the Intauch app, she entered her mother’s data and scheduled daily calls between 9:00 and 12:00.
The service asked her about what topic her mother would like to speak, and she suggested three themes: the weather, the food for dinner and Donald Trump.
At first, the idea seemed to the terrible and dangerous mother.
Then she seemed somewhat excited, but she complained about the long breaks of the service: “There were some strange breaks in the conversation.”
“They are intentionally made, because it imitates how older adults react and think.”, Explained Le Moigne.
Le Moigne says the emphasis is on transparency:
“We want people to know that they talk to a robot, we say explicitly that Mary is one. We don’t want to replace family calls and visits.”
Interesting is that while talking to Ai Mary, the old woman asked the robot from where it is
“Florida ”was the answer.
“Where in Florida? ”the pensioner insisted.
Ai Mary confessed that she was “created digitally” and that it cannot be more accurate.
The old woman’s daughter reported that after every mother’s conversation with the robot, she received alerts on the phone. I was told that the mother is “Good willing”, that “She spoke about a trip with her sisters”. and other things of this kind.
After the fourth call between Ai Mary and Mother Mary, the daughter received a message that was informed that “a low mood is detected”.
She called her mother and asked her what happened
“I just don’t want to talk to her anymore, so I cut her in touchA ”, the pensioner confessed.
“It cannot replace the emotional connection that comes from contact from person to person”
In Japan, where almost 28% of the population is old, AI companions are already a habit. Therapeutic robots, such as the fluffy papers, are in the care centers since the early 2000s, while the companions have been placed in the old Japanese houses living alone. The government actively funds these technologies to cope with the caretaker’s deficit.
Jenny Willott, CEO of Re-Algage, a charitable organization that supports the elderly, has a balanced perspective:
“Although artificial intelligence could help fill a void, it cannot replace the emotional connection that comes from contact from person to person.”
In Romania, about 1.5 million elderly are affected by loneliness.
