Story
Year 2035:
Due to the pressure of the aging society in Japan, companion robots became a popular trend, especially in elder care. Kazuki is a 70-year-old man who lives by himself. His children are worried about him since they live in different cities. To better take care of Kazuki, his children decide to buy a companion robot. This senior care robot’s job mainly is to take care of older people, and if an emergency happens, it will report to the families and doctors. Also, communicating with companion robots might be able to decrease the risk of depression and dementia since it can help the care recipients to relax and maintain a good mood.
However, Kazuki is not that happy with this change. His children visit him less after having this robot as they assume that it will fulfill their father’s every necessary need, including emotional and physical support. Furthermore, Kazuki feels an absence of privacy as the humanoid robot monitors him 24-7 even when he goes to the bathroom or takes a shower. Kazuki also feels he is monitored and imprisoned. For instance, the robot is programmed to peer around Kazuki, and his children can view his location as the robot updates his location by real-time streaming service. His children can even interfere with Kazuki’s life by ordering the robot to encourage and guide him back to the designated area.
Moreover, Kazuki is not comfortable communicating with the robot because he does not feel any sincerity behind the robot’s words, especially when it uses emotional expressions. The first reason is that he feels embarrassed talking to a machine, especially in front of other people. Kazuki complains to his children, ‘Only kids talk and make friends with a doll.’ Another reason is that he is aware that robots only mimic human behaviors and do not resonate with the meaning behind the words. Kazuki doubts that the companion robots positively affect care recipients’ mental health, as the commercial said. Because of the reduced visit from Kazuki’s family and superficial communications provided by the companion robot, Kazuki feels more lonely than he did before he had this robot.
What are Companion Robots?
A Companion Robot is a robot designed to provide companionship towards human beings, especially patients, children, or seniors. The formats of the companion robots are not all the same. Some look cute and imitate animals’ appearances with fur, which can provide more emotional support. The care recipients can interact with them by touching them and talking to them. Some can only understand simple orders and connect with hospitals for healthcare services. Currently, the elder care robot is a companion robot that is primarily used in care homes, and, as such, it is seen as a solution to the needs of an aging society. However, there are uncertainties that to what extent companion robots can replace human caregivers with the consideration of potential harms.
Discussion Questions
Click the + on the right of a question to view related perspectives and potential starting points for considering these ethical concerns.
What are some social issues behind substituting a robot for human care or companionship?[4, 8]
- “This population problem is already very real in countries like Japan, where there will be an estimated shortage of 1 million caregivers by 2025. The U.S. is facing a similar dilemma — as the percentage of people aged 65 or older is expected to rise to roughly 26% by 2050.”[4]
Can companion robots be physically and psychologically beneficial to care recipients in ways that are more effective than human caregivers?[1, 3]
- “ Content analysis identified 3 key benefits of and 3 barriers to the use of PARO. Main benefits include: reducing negative emotion and behavioral symptoms, improving social engagement, and promoting positive mood and quality of care experience. Key barriers are: cost and workload, infection concerns, and stigma and ethical issues.”[1]
How well are Companion Robots accepted by elderly people?[5]
- “The acceptance of care robots has so far been rather poor, despite the potential benefits they are meant to provide.”[5]
When receiving care from companion robots, would care recipients receive less care from humans? Would care recipients face psychological effects from interacting more with humanoid robots than humans?[2, 5]
- “The worry is that the use of robots in elder care for tasks such as lifting, carrying, or even cleaning, might result in a reduction in the amount of human social contact that an elderly person experiences.”[2]
How will the Companion Robot affect human rights, especially privacy?[2]
- “Our second concern is that there is a risk that monitoring could infringe on the right to privacy. The privacy of people in general should be respected”[2]
Will people feel embarrassed and uncomfortable when interacting with companion robots, since they are talking to a machine? How could we prevent it?[1, 6]
- “Some cases described individuals as appearing embarrassed about interacting with PARO especially in front of others, and this might have influenced their reactions.”[1]
Would people feel they lose control since their life is getting ‘arranged’ by care robots? Will people feel they lose their dignity and independence? Which one is better compared to taken care of by human caregivers?
- “Such robots could make elderly people feel that they had even less control over their lives than when they are dependent on human nursing care.”[2]
Is it deception to have emotional connections with companion robots? Can companion robots give true caring if emotional connections are based on deceptions?[2, 6]
- “For an individual to benefit significantly from ownership of a robot pet they must systematically delude themselves regarding the real nature of their relation with the animal.”[2]
Who should control Companion Robots? Doctors, families, or users?[2]
- “Robot technology that was under the control of an elderly person could empower them and increase their independence.”[2]
Themes
(Primary) Human Right, Safety and Security, Human Control of Technology, Promotion of Human Values
(Secondary) Professional Responsibility, Anthropomorphization, Identity, Fairness and Non-discrimination, Accountability
Resources
- Hung, L., Liu, C., Woldum, E. et al. (2019). The benefits of and barriers to using a social robot PARO in care settings: a scoping review. BMC Geriatr 19, 232. Retrieved Nov 17, 2020, from https://doi.org/10.1186/s12877-019-1244-6
- Sharkey, A., Sharkey, N. (2012). Granny and the robots: ethical issues in robot care for the elderly. Ethics Inf Technol 14, 27–40. Retrieved Nov 17, 2020, from https://doi.org/10.1007/s10676-010-9234-6
- Corinne Purtill (October 4, 2019). Stop Me if You’ve Heard This One: A Robot and a Team of Irish Scientists Walk Into a Senior Living Home. Time. Retrieved Nov 17, 2020, from https://time.com/longform/senior-care-robot/
- Jason Walker (July 24, 2019). The Future is Elder Care Robots. Waypoint Robotics. Retrieved Nov 17, 2020 from https://waypointrobotics.com/blog/elder-care-robots/
- Johansson Pajala, Rose Marie, Gustafsson, Christine (June 13, 2020). Significant challenges when introducing care robots in Swedish elder care. Disability and Rehabilitation: Assistive Technology. Retrieved Nov 17, 2020, from https://doi.org/10.1080/17483107.2020.1773549
- Wachsmuth, Ipke. (Apr. 2018). “Robots Like Me: Challenges and Ethical Issues in Aged Care.” Frontiers in psychology vol. 9 432. 3. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2018.00432. Retrieved Nov 17, 2020 from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5892289/
- Melanie Henwood (Nov 22, 2019). Why the idea of ‘care robots’ could be bad news for the elderly. World Economic Forum, LSE Business Review. Retrieved Nov 17, 2020 from https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2019/11/care-robots-ai-4ir-elderly-social/
- Salvini P. (2015) On Ethical, Legal and Social Issues of Care Robots. In: Mohammed S., Moreno J., Kong K., Amirat Y. (eds) Intelligent Assistive Robots. Springer Tracts in Advanced Robotics, vol 106. Springer, Cham. Retrieved Nov 17, 2020, from https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-12922-8_17
Image Credit
Creator: “clio1789”—https://www.flickr.com/people/clio1789/
Source: “Paro”—https://www.flickr.com/photos/clio1789/2254307941
License: “CC BY-NC-ND 2.0”—https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/
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