Machines: The Future of Caring

The demand for caregiving has increased within the United Kingdom and Europe, with businesses ready to capitalise.

The fastest population growth in the United Kingdom, is of people aged 65 plus. In 2019 there were 12.4 million people in this age bracket. More than 18% of the entire UK population. Research in adult social care suggests that the amount of people aged 85 years and older will almost triple within the next twenty years.

Further to this, the prevalence of adults who have a disability that requires support, increased by 3% during the year 2018/2019 . Only 25% of the people who apply to adult social care for physical or mental assistance receive this through the public service.

The remaining 75% are often tended to by a family member, with the 2011 census identifying 6.5 million caregivers. Carers UK has explained the difficulties faced by carers and in 2018 found that they were likely to be living in poverty as a result of their duties, experience mental ill health and feel isolated. There are also many people who are not receiving the provision that would benefit their quality of life and opportunity to remain independent within their own homes.

To ease the responsibility of providing support for the ageing population, companies have been working on socially assistive robots.

One of these has been trialled in several homes where elderly members of society wish to remain independent rather than entering supported living. Via sensors that are fitted around the home, these machines can tell if appliances are in use, allow video calls from friends, family and professionals, all of whom can log into the system via the internet and manoeuvre the robot around the building.

The robot offers ongoing monitoring, allowing professionals to witness potential cognitive decline of the client. Through additional sensors blood pressure and oxygen levels can be checked without a nurse or doctor being present.

Not only are companies using this technology to create a virtual monitoring system, but they are also working on companionship. One artificial intelligence machine has been able to predict the ending of films based on a single image of the opening scene with a 98.5% success rate. With this programming there are high hopes that the creation of socially adept machines will be available within a matter of time and global investment in this area has substantially increased.

Several products have already hit the market in relation to children. Within the United Kingdom, 12.7 million children require attention, which is provided by 19.2 million families.

One humanoid gives companionship to children in the aspiration of freeing up parents for work. Dancing, singing and playing games are just a small sample of this robots ability. Another is used to enhance mood.

Focus is currently being placed on a robot that can support young children with motor disabilities and aid rehabilitation. The intention is to help children engage with their person centred interventions. The range of cameras, sensors and accelerometers also advance monitoring of activity levels and physical or emotional abilities.

The is no doubt that artificial intelligence is advancing at an exponential rate and that providing care is a shared global ambition for these machines but should it be remembered that regardless of the abilities of robots, they are still automations? Will an android be able to offer the safety and diligence that a human would expect in regards to falls and safety?

It has been drilled into the human psyche since the time of Harlow’s Monkey experiments that creatures who are socially deprived from parents and peers are likely to be unbalanced in psychosocial surroundings.

The benefits of social interactions are vast for children, including the introduction of social and communication skills, gaining confidence when around others as well as allowing friendships to develop. For the elderly, the reduction of depression and loneliness is achieved through peers and families. Is it possible for a machine to offer the core elements of a civilised humanity?