AI Companions Are Redefining Elder Care: 3 Ways They Fight Loneliness, Boost Safety, And Scale Support

Forbes

16-05-2025

ElliQ, an AI-powered companion with Doreen
The world is aging—fast. By 2050, more than 2.1 billion people will be over the age of 60, with 80% living in low- and middle-income countries, according to the World Health Organization. For the first time in history, older adults now outnumber children under five.
Yet while lifespans are increasing, healthspans often are not. Many older adults now spend their final years managing multiple chronic conditions—including mobility loss, cognitive decline, and social isolation. The U.S. Surgeon General has declared loneliness a public health crisis, equating its impact on mortality to smoking 15 cigarettes a day.
Meanwhile, a severe caregiver shortage is straining health systems and families worldwide. Millions of aging adults now live alone, with limited daily interaction or support.
In response, a new wave of innovators is using artificial intelligence—not to replace human care, but to enhance it. From audio-based monitoring and proactive voice companions to predictive AI and socially assistive robots, these tools are changing how we care for our seniors.
Sensi.AI uses audio—not cameras or wearables—to quietly monitor care environments 24/7. Its privacy-first system listens for subtle signs of distress, illness, or cognitive decline, and alerts care teams before issues escalate.
'Traditional elder care depends on someone pressing a button or calling for help,' says CEO Romi Gubes. 'But what if they can't?'
Trained on more than 1,000 years of real-world in-home audio data, Sensi's predictive AI detects early symptoms of dementia, UTIs, pneumonia, or emotional agitation—triggering timely interventions that help families avoid hospitalization and support aging in place.
Unlike AI companions that engage through conversation, Sensi works silently in the background—empowering caregivers with real-time insights, personalized training cues, and better client-caregiver matching. The platform also helps agencies identify and celebrate top-performing staff, addressing industry-wide burnout and turnover.
Families often use Sensi as a safety net before hiring in-person care or to extend overnight coverage affordably. 'It's not just about efficiency,' Gubes says. 'It's about preserving dignity—and delivering care when and where it's needed most.'
In a recent interview, Dor Skuler — CEO and co-founder of Intuition Robotics—explained how ElliQ, its AI-powered companion for older adults, is designed to initiate conversations, prompt medication reminders, suggest wellness activities, and offer social engagement throughout the day.
Unlike traditional smart devices, ElliQ doesn't wait for commands. It proactively interacts with users—guiding cognitive games, checking in on mood, and even facilitating virtual events.
Skuler and his team co-designed the system with input from hundreds of older adults to ensure it would feel natural, emotionally attuned, and easy to use. The result? 'Over 90% of users report reduced loneliness, and 94% say they feel healthier and more connected.'
For those spending five or more hours a day alone, the impact can be life-changing.
CloudMind's emotionally intelligent AI, led by CEO Dr. Monica Tsai, is designed to ease dementia care and caregiver burnout. Inspired by personal experience and informed by years of research in leadership and AI, Tsai's team developed BRiGHTPATH, an AI companion co-developed with therapists to deliver not just prompts, but presence.
'Trust can't be an afterthought,' she says. 'For vulnerable users, every interaction must feel familiar, compassionate, and emotionally attuned.'
The system uses voice-based conversation, familiar routines, and adaptive responses to help users feel grounded, even as memory fades. Behind the scenes, it offers caregivers moments of calm—reducing burnout through micro-breaks in care.
CloudMind's latest pilot, in partnership with Pacific Living Centers in Oregon, focuses on how AI companions can ethically and effectively reduce isolation in memory care. Tsai sees this as part of a broader 'circle of care,' where AI enhances—not replaces—the human touch with consistency, empathy, and continuity.
Cera, the UK's largest HealthTech home care provider, delivers over two million visits each month—matching the national volume of NHS A&E departments. At its core is an AI platform that predicts health risks and improves care delivery.
'Our models predict hospitalizations and falls up to a week in advance,' says CEO Dr. Ben Maruthappu. 'That enables early action, which reduces emergencies by up to 70%.'
Cera also automates care reporting and optimizes travel routes—giving caregivers more time with patients while serving more clients per shift. Independent analyses show its prevention-led model saves the UK government £1 million a day.
Maruthappu believes we're reaching a tipping point. 'Just like we expect tech in banking or shopping, we'll expect it in care—especially when it improves transparency, trust, and outcomes.'
Looking ahead, he sees AI companion robots taking on simple but essential tasks like hydration reminders and medication tracking—freeing up human caregivers for deeper engagement.
Dr. Maja Matarić, a pioneer in socially assistive robotics at the University of Southern California, doesn't build robots to fetch water or open doors. Her lab designs AI-powered systems that provide something far more essential for seniors: emotional support, companionship, and dignity.
'Socio-emotional support isn't optional,' she says. 'It's what makes us human.'
Matarić has spent decades developing AI to assist stroke survivors, autistic children, and older adults living alone. But she warns that many tools fail because they're designed without the end user in mind. 'The user must stay in control. Respect, representation, and autonomy are non-negotiable.'
She advocates for co-design with seniors from the outset—bringing them into labs, collecting real-world data, and refining tools based on their lived experience. And while the technology is ready, she says, investment is not.
'The biggest barrier isn't the science,' Matarić notes. 'It's a lack of empathy—and a lack of funding—for the populations who need this most.'
As the global population ages, loneliness, chronic illness, and caregiver shortages are converging into a silent emergency. But from labs to living rooms, a new generation of AI innovators is rewriting what care can look like.
Across these interviews, a blueprint emerges:
These aren't futuristic hopes. These are real solutions already improving lives—whether through predictive audio monitoring, emotionally intelligent digital companions, or scalable prevention platforms.
The question now isn't whether we'll use AI in elder care—it's how we ensure it reflects our values.
As Dor Skuler reflects in our video interview: 'We're not here to pretend AI is human. We're here to help people feel less alone.'
That's the opportunity. A future of aging with dignity, support, and connection is within reach—if we build it together, with those it's meant to serve at the very heart of the design.