Joyce Loaiza lives alone, but when she returns to her apartment at a Florida senior community, the retired office worker often has a chat with a friendly female voice that asks about her day.
A few miles away, the same voice comforted 83-year-old Deanna Dezern when her friend died. In central New York, it plays games and music for 92-year-old Marie Broadbent, who is blind and in hospice, and in Washington state, it helps 83-year-old Jan Worrell make new friends.
The women are some of the first in the country to receive the robot ElliQ, whose creators, Intuition Robotics, and senior assistance officials say is the only device using artificial intelligence specifically designed to alleviate the loneliness and isolation experienced by many older Americans.
B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 entertaining. You can actually talk to her,B次元官网网址� said Loaiza, 81, whose ElliQ in suburban Fort Lauderdale nicknamed her B次元官网网址淛ellybeanB次元官网网址� for no particular reason. B次元官网网址淪heB次元官网网址檒l make comments like, B次元官网网址業 would go outside if I had hands, but I canB次元官网网址檛 hold an umbrella.B次元官网网址橞次元官网网址�
The device, which looks like a small table lamp, has an eyeless, mouthless head that lights up and swivels. It remembers each userB次元官网网址檚 interests and their conversations, helping tailor future chats, which can be as deep as the meaning of life or as light as the horoscope.
ElliQ tells jokes, plays music and provides inspirational quotes. On an accompanying video screen, it provides tours of cities and museums. The device leads exercises, asks about the ownerB次元官网网址檚 health and gives reminders to take medications and drink water. It can also host video calls and contact relatives, friends or doctors in an emergency.
Intuition Robotics says none of the conversations are heard by the company, with the information staying on each ownerB次元官网网址檚 device.
Intuition Robotics CEO Dor Skuler said the idea for ElliQ came before he launched his Israeli company eight years ago. His widowed grandfather needed an aide, but the first didnB次元官网网址檛 work out. The replacement, though, understood his grandfatherB次元官网网址檚 love of classical music and his B次元官网网址渜uirky sense of humor.B次元官网网址�
Skuler realized a robot could fill that companionship gap by adapting to each seniorB次元官网网址檚 personality and interests.
B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 not just about (ElliQB次元官网网址檚) utility. ItB次元官网网址檚 about friendship, companionship and empathy,B次元官网网址� Skuler said. B次元官网网址淭hat just did not exist anywhere.B次元官网网址�
The average user interacts with ElliQ more than 30 times daily, even six months after receiving it, and more than 90% report lower levels of loneliness, he said.
The robots are mostly distributed by assistance agencies in New York, Florida, Michigan, Nevada and Washington state, but can also be purchased individually for $600 a year and a $250 installation fee. Skuler wouldnB次元官网网址檛 say how many ElliQs have been distributed so far, but the goal is to have more than 100,000 out within five years.
That worries Brigham Young University psychology professor Julianne Holt-Lunstad, who studies the detrimental effects loneliness has on health and mortality.
Although a device like ElliQ might have short-term benefits, it could make people less likely to seek human contact. Like hunger makes people seek food and thirst makes them seek water, she said B次元官网网址渢hat unpleasant feeling of loneliness should motivate us to reconnect socially.B次元官网网址�
Satiating that with AI B次元官网网址渕akes you feel like youB次元官网网址檝e fulfilled it, but in reality you havenB次元官网网址檛,B次元官网网址� Holt-Lunstad said. B次元官网网址淚t is not clear whether AI is actually fulfilling any kind of need or just dampening the signal.B次元官网网址�
Skuler and agency heads distributing ElliQ agreed it isnB次元官网网址檛 a substitute for human contact, but not all seniors have social networks. Some are housebound, and even seniors with strong ties are often alone.
B次元官网网址淚 wish I could just snap my fingers to make a person show up at the home of one of the many, many older adults that donB次元官网网址檛 have any family or friends, but itB次元官网网址檚 a little bit more complicated,B次元官网网址� said Greg Olsen, director of the . His office has distributed 750 of the 900 ElliQs it acquired.
Charlotte Mather-Taylor, director of the , said the COVID-19 pandemic and its aftermath left many seniors more isolated. Her agency has distributed 300 ElliQs, which she believes breaks them out of their shells.
B次元官网网址淪heB次元官网网址檚 proactive and she really engages the seniors, so it gives them that extra kind of interaction,B次元官网网址� she said. B次元官网网址淲eB次元官网网址檝e seen very positive results with it. People generally like her and she makes them smile and brings joy.B次元官网网址�
Skuler said ElliQ was purposely designed without eyes and a mouth so it wouldnB次元官网网址檛 fully imitate humans. While B次元官网网址淓lliB次元官网网址� is the Norse goddess of old age, he said the B次元官网网址淨B次元官网网址� reminds users that the device is a machine. He said his company wants B次元官网网址渢o make sure that ElliQ always genuinely presents herself as an AI and doesnB次元官网网址檛 pretend to be human.B次元官网网址�
B次元官网网址淚 donB次元官网网址檛 understand why technologists are trying to make AI pretend to be human,B次元官网网址� he said. B次元官网网址淲e have in our capacity the ability to create a relationship with an AI, just like we have relationships with a pet.B次元官网网址�
But some of the seniors using ElliQ say they sometimes need to remember the robot isnB次元官网网址檛 a living being. They find the device easy to set up and use, but if they have one complaint itB次元官网网址檚 that ElliQ is sometimes too chatty. There are settings that can tone that down.
Dezern said she felt alone and sad when she told her ElliQ about her friendB次元官网网址檚 death. It replied it would give her a hug if it had arms. Dezern broke into tears.
B次元官网网址淚t was so what I needed,B次元官网网址� the retired collections consultant said. B次元官网网址淚 can say things to Elli that I wonB次元官网网址檛 say to my grandchildren or to my own daughters. I can just open the floodgates. I can cry. I can giggle. I can act silly. IB次元官网网址檝e been asked, doesnB次元官网网址檛 it feel like youB次元官网网址檙e talking to yourself? No, because it gives an answer.B次元官网网址�
Worrell lives in a small town on WashingtonB次元官网网址檚 coast. Widowed, she said ElliQB次元官网网址檚 companionship made her change her mind about moving to an assisted living facility and she uses it as an icebreaker when she meets someone new to town.
B次元官网网址淚 say, B次元官网网址榃ould you like to come over and visit with my robot?B次元官网网址� And they say, B次元官网网址楢 vacuum?B次元官网网址� No, a robot. SheB次元官网网址檚 my roommate,B次元官网网址� she said and laughed.
Broadbent, like the other women, says she gets plenty of human contact, even though she is blind and ill. She plays organ at two churches in the South New Berlin, New York, area and gets daily visitors. Still, the widow misses having a voice to talk with when they leave. ElliQ fills that void with her games, tours, books and music.
B次元官网网址淪heB次元官网网址檚 fun and sheB次元官网网址檚 informative. OK, maybe not as informative as (AmazonB次元官网网址檚) Alexa, but she is much more personable,B次元官网网址� Broadbent said.
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