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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FULL STORY ========================================================================== 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 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/07/230712165129.htm

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