{"id":70,"date":"2015-02-17T09:03:00","date_gmt":"2015-02-17T09:03:00","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2015-11-04T14:39:31","modified_gmt":"2015-11-04T14:39:31","slug":"can-robots-help-care-for-us-as-we-age","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.canterbury.ac.uk\/discursive\/can-robots-help-care-for-us-as-we-age\/","title":{"rendered":"Can robots help care for us as we age?"},"content":{"rendered":"

In fifteen years there will 50% more over 65s than there are today, and the proportion of older people in our society will continue to grow for some time after that.\u00a0 The 2013 House of Lords report Ready for Ageing? <\/i><\/a>\u00a0<\/i>\u00a0looked at the likely consequences of this on-going demographic shift and stated the problem plainly: ‘The UK population is ageing rapidly, but the Government and our society are woefully underprepared’.<\/p>\n

On 5th<\/sup> March politicians from all parties will appear at an event<\/a>in London, organised by the Guardian newspaper, to explain their policies for addressing the ageing challenge. \u00a0I hope they offer some ambitious proposals: the status quo is not an option.<\/p>\n

The Ready for Ageing Alliance<\/i>, a coalition of charities and think-tanks, has already produced its eleven-point manifesto for action<\/a>.\u00a0Its focus is primarily on what we as individuals can do to meet the coming challenge, emphasising healthy living, active lifestyle, saving for retirement, forward planning, being part of social networks, staying positive.<\/p>\n

Of course we can each play our part, but that won\u2019t solve the problem. Our pension, health and social care systems are already under severe strain. How will they cope as the pressure mounts?<\/p>\n

I\u2019ll be looking to see how much thought the politicians have given to how new technologies could help. I was amazed how little the House of Lords Committee said about this.\u00a0 In over a thousand pages<\/a> of material there is barely a mention of the potential of new developments such as the internet of things, smart homes, and robotics. \u00a0\u00a0Of course, as the Lords report points out, new technologies are not a panacea. However, we are a nation of inventors, designers and entrepreneurs, and in the past we have often used these talents to help us out of tight situations.\u00a0 Given the current challenge, we would do well to sharpen our vision and look where human ingenuity could take us.<\/p>\n

My interest in this is both as an ageing UK citizen and as a technologist.\u00a0 I have spent much of the last 25 years trying to solve problems in artificial intelligence and robotics.\u00a0 In 2011 I was invited to lead a European working group on the potential societal impacts of robotics<\/a>. We quickly decided to focus on the possible use of robots to address the Europe-wide demographic shift<\/a>.\u00a0 Ever since then I\u2019ve been convinced that there\u2019s an opportunity here that is too important to let pass.<\/p>\n

The current telehealth technologies are mainly about monitoring and providing healthcare advice. The underlying digital computer and telecommunications technologies have a fundamental limitation: they can\u2019t physically act in the world. This is where robots are different and can make a game-changing contribution.<\/p>\n

In a recent blog piece<\/a> for Wired magazine I described a number of ways that assistive robots could help us as we age: maintaining our environments by doing chores like cleaning, and helping us with eating, toileting, and dressing. In that piece, I make it clear that these robots are unlikely to be human-like or \u2018humanoid\u2019. Rather, many of them will be home appliances that simply do more by themselves. The current generation of robot vacuum cleaners exemplifies this possibility.\u00a0We shouldn\u2019t feel surprised or threatened by this development: it \u00a0continues a long-term trend. After all, look at what happened with the first form of automation to enter the home \u2013 the washing machine. We no longer wash clothes by hand or squeeze out water with a mangle. \u00a0Assistive robotic technologies will evolve along similar trajectories.\u00a0 By 2030, robot cleaners and helpers will be part of a larger ecology of smart devices that will have transformed the way we perform household tasks, making our living spaces easier to manage as we grow old.<\/p>\n

Assistive robots can also help at a more personal level. Together with the designer, Sebastian Conran, and with advice from occupational therapists and ex-patients from Sheffield Teaching Hospitals, I am currently developing a robotic over-bed table<\/a>.\u00a0 If disability confines you to bed or to a wheelchair, our table will come to you rather than you go to it.\u00a0 When you are finished with the table it will move back to a safe place and recharge.\u00a0 This is a not major breakthrough in robotics – the AI required is similar to that of the robot vacuum cleaner – but our main challenge is to make the table completely safe and genuinely useful. \u00a0We imagine that one situation where people will use these tables is within hospital wards so they need to be able to move around safely within the ward without bumping into people or other objects.\u00a0 Once they are in position over a bed they also need to self-adjust safely, and to ensure that any objects placed on the table top do not fall off.\u00a0 Each of these challenges requires appropriate sensing and some significant artificial intelligence.<\/p>\n

\"Possible<\/a>
Possible uses for an assistive robot table.
Images from Sebastian Conran Associates<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

At a still more intimate level, consider personal hygiene. Smart toilets that can provide cleaning and drying of intimate areas are already in widespread use in parts of the world such as South Korea and Japan. In the coming decade, we can extend the functionality of intelligent bathroom fittings so that they are more useful to people with age-related disabilities. \u00a0For many people, being helped with their personal hygiene by a carer – potentially a complete stranger – is embarrassing and demeaning.\u00a0 Assistive robots can help us retain control over our lives and our bodies, allowing us to live independently for longer.<\/p>\n

People also worry that using technology in this way might increase the isolation that is already often a problem for older people<\/a>.\u00a0 The current generation of telehealth technologies puts some aspects of care at a distance, and assistive robots will replace some tasks that human carers do now. \u00a0We need to take this issue seriously and in my view we should protect access to face-to-face human support by legislation.<\/p>\n

However, I don\u2019t think it\u2019s inevitable that using new technologies to support our independence will lead to other people drawing back.\u00a0Indeed I think that the reverse might happen. Research on loneliness<\/a> shows that lack of control over your life can lead to passivity and learned helplessness, feeding low self-esteem and social withdrawal. \u00a0Becoming more independent through technology might enable us to feel better about ourselves, get out of the house more, seek and maintain human contact, and enjoy positive relationships that are not all built around a carer-client dynamic.<\/p>\n

There is already evidence that companion robots could help us in our social lives. The Paro seal<\/a>, an animal-like robot developed in Japan, is currently being evaluated in Sheffield for its capacity to promote social interaction in patients with dementia.\u00a0 Preliminary results<\/a> show that Paro can increase socialisation in people who are withdrawn by encouraging them to converse with others and by eliciting non-verbal interactions, such as touch and stroking, with the robot.<\/p>\n

Some are concerned about how assistive robots might impact on the caring professions.\u00a0 However, good professional carers are already scarce and are becoming scarcer. The UK has a shortage of nurses and residential care workers, and this will only worsen as the number of care jobs increases by up to one million by 2025<\/a>.\u00a0 Robots can help compensate for this skills shortage by assisting professional carers in their work, and by reducing work-related injuries, such as chronic back-strain, that otherwise lead some experienced carers to retire early.\u00a0 Working with teams of assistive robots, the role of a professional carer will become more skilled and respected, less physical, less routine, and more focused on the people being cared for.\u00a0 Wages and working conditions for care workers are often scandalously poor: introducing more technology into care work could raise its status.<\/p>\n

Across Europe, we are moving from a situation where we have three working people for every one potential dependent (someone either over sixty-five or below eighteen) to one where, by 2060, that ratio could be one-to-one<\/a>.\u00a0 The world in 2060 will be very different, and it is not unrealistic to imagine that assistive technologies will be very advanced by that time.\u00a0 This is good to know, because otherwise families will be faced with what looks like an impossibly high burden.<\/p>\n

The House of Lords is right to think that technology can\u2019t fix all of the issues arising from this demographic shift.\u00a0 However, I believe that it can and should be a part of the solution, and robotic technologies will have an important role to play. \u00a0The problems arising from our ageing population won\u2019t happen overnight, but as we look around and see more of our older citizens miserable and neglected, we need to think about what actions we can take and to start rethinking how our society cares for older people.\u00a0 As part of the mix, I believe we would be doing a disservice to both ourselves and our children, to ignore the opportunity provided by assistive robots.<\/p>\n

About the author<\/h2>\n

Tony Prescott<\/i><\/a> is a Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience at the University of Sheffield, a Fellow of the British Psychological Society, and the Director of Sheffield Robotics (http:\/\/www.sheffieldrobotics.ac.uk<\/a>) a cross-institutional robotics facility with over one hundred active researchers.\u00a0He regularly speaks and writes about the potential societal impacts and risks of advanced technologies such as AI and robotics. You can follow him on Twitter @tonyjprescott<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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