Seventy-nine-year-old Sandra Cota lives alone and has struggled with loneliness since her mother died three years ago. When she learned about the companion robot ElliQ, she was intrigued.
“It’s helped my mental health in that I feel like I have a roommate,” Cota said.
Designed specifically with older adults in mind, and with an annual subscription cost of $600 to $1,000, with various pricing options available, ElliQ provides medication reminders, exercise routines and interactive games.
Over the last four years, the maker of ElliQ, Intuition Robotics, has piloted the device, partnering with state agencies and organizations nationwide. In Cota’s case, New York’s Office for the Aging gave her the robot for free — in part, to study its ability to manage daily routines and initiate conversations.
Data from New York’s initiative found that 95% of users reported it helped them reduce loneliness and improve their well-being.
Intuition Robotics founder and CEO Dor Skuler said the robot was inspired by his grandfather’s experience with home health aides.
“When we went to build this product, we said, ‘Let’s try create an AI that can build a trustful, benevolent relationship with older people,’” Skuler said.
Psychologist Alton Bozeman with the Menninger Clinic in Houston says companion AI tools can be beneficial, but that there are some reasons to be cautious.
“Another thing specifically to some companion AIs is that they learn from us and so they kind of try to predict where they think we want the conversation to go,” Bozeman said. “So therefore, if somebody does have mental health issues, specifically depression, it can pick up on that depressive kind of line of thinking.”
Also, as the largely under-regulated AI industry explodes, there are concerns about people getting overly attached to AI companions.
“It might be easier for somebody who’s elderly to use this AI as maybe an excuse or opportunity to isolate more,” Bozeman said. “So that’s when it could become problematic, if it ever becomes a replacement for real communication and interaction with people.”
Skuler says Intuition Robotics addresses these concerns by limiting the number of interactions users can have with ElliQ —– and by facilitating group activities.
“Twice a week there’s bingo across all our users. It’s very cutthroat, very competitive,” Skuler said. “Through those activities, they can actually make friends with other LEQ users and communicate with them offline in a safe way.”
It is likely that more AI companion devices will come onto the market in the coming years as the population continues to age — and the need to address the loneliness epidemic coincides with a significant nationwide shortage of caregivers.