Is loneliness an epidemic? Companion robots offer a solution

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The number of people seemingly entranced by their mobile phones or computers, their eyes glued to screens and oblivious to everything around them, might make a cynic think that social isolation is self-inflicted.

According to US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, the nation’s top public health officer, Americans are facing an epidemic of loneliness, leading to increased risk of cardiovascular disease, dementia, stroke, depression, anxiety, and death. early.

There is even something like a loneliness economy, among others, with apartments for single people, increased pet ownership and single-serving food products.

This trend is not only seen in the United States. A 2023 survey found that Belgians are feeling increasingly lonely, while Britain is holding a government-funded loneliness awareness week.

Is loneliness an epidemic? Companion robots offer a solution

The internet and social media, or their misuse and dependency, have been blamed for the rise in loneliness, and the recent rise of so-called generative artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots is seen as likely to worsen things before improving them.

“Right now, all the evidence points to the fact that the best solution is to have a real friend,” says American Murali Doraiswamy, professor of Psychiatry and Geriatrics at Duke University, in research published in the journal Science Robotics.

However, Doraiswamy and his colleagues at Duke, Auckland and Cornell universities believe that AI-enhanced robots could one day help alleviate the epidemic of loneliness.

“Until society prioritizes social connection and caring for the elderly, robots are a solution for the millions of isolated people who have no other solutions,” says Doraiswamy.

So-called large language models, like those seen in ChatGPT, could mean robots capable of “chatting” with their owners.

“Still, you have to be careful to build in rules to ensure that these are ethical and trustworthy,” says Elizabeth Broadbent, an academic specializing in robotics at the University of Auckland.