MSGID: 1:317/3 64af7dee   
   PID: hpt/lnx 1.9.0-cur 2019-01-08   
   TID: hpt/lnx 1.9.0-cur 2019-01-08   
    Could AI-powered robot 'companions' combat human loneliness?    
    Companion robots may help socially isolated people avoid the health risks   
   of being alone    
      
     Date:   
         July 12, 2023   
     Source:   
         Duke University   
     Summary:   
         Companion robots enhanced with artificial intelligence may one   
         day help alleviate the loneliness epidemic. A new report maps   
         some of the ethical considerations, and urges stakeholders to   
         come together to rapidly develop guidelines for trust, agency,   
         engagement, and real-world efficacy. The authors also propose a   
         new measure for whether a companion robot is helping someone.   
      
      
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   Companion robots enhanced with artificial intelligence may one day help   
   alleviate the loneliness epidemic, suggests a new report from researchers   
   at Auckland, Duke, and Cornell Universities.   
      
   Their report, appearing in the July 12 issue of 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.   
      
   "Right now, all the evidence points to having a real friend as the best   
   solution," said Murali Doraiswamy, MBBS, FRCP, professor of Psychiatry   
   and Geriatrics at Duke University and member of the Duke Institute for   
   Brain Sciences. "But until society prioritizes social connectedness and   
   eldercare, robots are a solution for the millions of isolated people   
   who have no other solutions."  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. Loneliness may even be as pernicious a health factor as smoking   
   cigarettes, according to the U.S. Surgeon General Vivek H. Murthy, M.D.   
      
   While it is increasingly difficult to make new friends as an adult to   
   help offset loneliness, making a companion robot to support socially   
   isolated older adults may prove to be a promising solution.   
      
   "AI presents exciting opportunities to give companion robots greater   
   skills to build social connection," said Elizabeth Broadbent, Ph.D.,   
   professor of Psychological Medicine at Waipapa Taumata Rau, University   
   of Auckland. "But we need to be careful to build in rules to ensure   
   they are moral and trustworthy."  Social robots like the ElliQ have had   
   thousands of interactions with human users, nearly half related to simple   
   companionship, including company over a cup of tea or coffee. A growing   
   body of research on companion robots suggests they can reduce stress   
   and loneliness and can help older 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, the authors point out. 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 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 authors. The   
   "Companion Robot Impact Scale" (Co-Bot-I-7) aims to establish the impact   
   on physical health and loneliness, and is showing that companion machines   
   might already be proving effective.   
      
   Early results from Broadbent's lab, for example, find 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."  In addition to Dr. Doraiswamy and Professor   
   Broadbent, study authors include Mark Billinghurst, Ph.D., and Samantha   
   Boardman, M.D.   
      
   Professor Broadbent and Dr. Doraiswamy have served as advisors to   
   Sermo and technology companies. Dr. Doraiswamy, Professor Broadbent,   
   and Dr. Boardman are co-developers of the Co-Bot-I-7 scale.   
      
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   Journal Reference:   
      1. Elizabeth Broadbent, Mark Billinghurst, Samantha G. Boardman,   
      P. Murali   
         Doraiswamy. Enhancing social connectedness with companion   
         robots using AI. Science Robotics, 2023; 8 (80) DOI:   
         10.1126/scirobotics.adi6347   
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   Link to news story:   
   https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/07/230712165129.htm   
      
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