Professor Paul Willis, Director of the CARE Research Centre, and Dr Maria Jose Galvez Trigo from SCALE (Social Care and Artificial Intelligence Learning Environment) Centre have co-authored a new article for The Conversation exploring what the BBC’s new comedy series Ann Droid can tell us about the future of care.
The article, Could robots help tackle loneliness? BBC’s Ann Droid raises questions about the future of care, draws on the authors’ expertise in social care, ageing, loneliness, artificial intelligence and human-centred robotics to reflect on some of the important questions raised by the programme.
Ann Droid, starring Sue Johnston and Diane Morgan, imagines a near future in which a humanoid robot provides care and companionship to an older woman living at home. While the sitcom is designed to entertain, it also shines a light on issues that are becoming increasingly relevant as researchers, care providers and policymakers consider how technology might support wellbeing, independence and social connection in later life.
In their article, Maria and Paul consider the opportunities and challenges (and current realities) presented by robotics and AI in social care, exploring whether technology could help address loneliness while complementing, rather than replacing, human relationships and support.
The collaboration brings together expertise from two Health and Care Research Wales-funded sister research centres. CARE focuses on improving adult social care and support through research, while SCALE examines the responsible development and use of artificial intelligence and emerging technologies in social care settings.
The themes discussed in the article align closely with other research underway across CARE. This includes Dr Sofia Vougioukalou and Dr Roser Beneito-Montagut’s NIHR-funded Socially Connected SmartCare at Home project, which is exploring how low-cost smart-home technologies can support social connection, wellbeing and independent living for people living with dementia, and Dr Georgina Powell’s NIHR-funded study examining how mainstream smart-home technologies can support independent living for disabled people. Together, these projects highlight CARE’s commitment to understanding how technology can enhance, rather than replace, the human aspects of care.
Originally published by The Conversation, the article is now also available on the CARE website under the publisher’s Creative Commons licence, helping bring research-informed perspectives on social care and technology to a wider audience.
Read the full article on the CARE website: Could robots help tackle loneliness? BBC’s Ann Droid raises questions about the future of care
Original publication: The Conversation. [theconversation.com]
