Future of Aged Care - Humans & Technology
It’s always an interesting discussion when we talk about what the future will look like a 100 years from now. Is it a truly absurd prediction that when the millennial generation heads into retirement that our carers will be robots?
In the western world aging populations are a real issue as it leaves a greater cohort of the population needing care with the burden falling on a smaller and smaller cohort of people. This presents many issues including funding, the need for physical people to care for us and of course meaningful human interaction. In a world where labour costs are becoming higher with automation taking over many mundane tasks, will it take long before we might be conversing with robots? It’s a given that the technology might not quite be there yet but what companies like Google are doing in this space is quite remarkable utilising artificial intelligence (Ai).
Those with iPhones will be familiar with Siri and Android users will be familiar with Google Assitant with both these programs being able to recognise your voice and answer questions using information from the web. What Google calls ‘Google Duplex’ takes this one step further where it can actually have a conversation with a real human as it has the ability to understand context of words and phrases that arise during the conversation and can even understand subtle tones of voice. Just have a look at the phone conversations in the link (Google Duplex Demonstration).
It sure is no stretch of the imagination that this technology could be coupled with advanced robotics to have machines that are capable of not only communicating with an elderly person but also be able to complete simple tasks such as making a cup of tea or answering the door. This article by Robert Sparrow, an adjunct Professor at the Monash Bioethics Centre, discusses current applications of robots in aged care and is well worth a read (Robots in Aged Care). The video below from the BBC highlights how loneliness can be a real problem and how this technology could go some way to help address this.
During our work we come across the issue of loneliness for the elderly in Sri Lanka and this is particularly pronounced in rural areas where accessibility can be difficult. Not only in rural areas but in areas like Colombo where people are struggling to find time when their working day is long can lead to having less time to visit family and friends with the elderly become more vulnerable when time is in short supply for those wanting to visit them. For now the burden falls squarely on us to ensure that they receive both the physical and emotional care they need in their retirement. They built us the world we live in and have given us a world of opportunity but we must not forget them in pursuit of our dreams. Next time you see an elderly person that seems lonely, sit down and talk with them - you’ll be surprised to learn some of their life stories.