This Cute AI Robot Offers Company to Lonely Older Folks
Loneliness is an epidemic. According to the US Census Bureau, around 16 million elders (over 65) live alone in the country, and up to a third report feelings of loneliness. Multiple studies have shown that social isolation harms mental and physical health, increasing blood pressure, depression, weight gain, alcohol and drug use, and decreasing physical activity, cognition, heart health, and sleep. Humans are inherently social creatures.
ElliQ is designed to alleviate these feelings and encourage healthy behavior in elderly folks living alone. The hope is that it can improve their quality of life and enable people to stay in their own homes longer instead of moving to an assisted living facility. While you may feel this cutesy AI bot is downright dystopian, you've got to ask yourself, what's the alternative? We know we should all check in with our elderly relatives and friends more often, but life is busy, and some folks are alone for long stretches. Cute and Practical
Photograph: Simon Hill
ElliQ sits on a pedestal with a metallic body and a head that swivels, tilts, and lights up when it speaks. There is a small smart display and speaker on the right with a physical button to press to wake ElliQ or silence it. The button also spins for volume control. You can wake ElliQ by saying its name, chosen because it's unlikely to be said accidentally. When ElliQ asks something or seeks confirmation, you can respond verbally or use the touchscreen.
The setup was a breeze. ElliQ arrived in simple packaging with instructions in an easy-to-read, large font. All you have to do is plug it in and connect to Wi-Fi. The first time we spoke, ElliQ asked me a few questions. Potential answers popped up on the touchscreen. It ran through questions I might ask, and I was prompted to read a few lines so ElliQ could recognize my voice.
ElliQ speaks in a slightly stilted, completely inoffensive female voice with tiny pauses before my name (it uses my name in almost every interaction). The way it is animated is undeniably cute. In one of our first conversations, ElliQ tells me it is modeled on the Pixar lamp. The rim around its head can light up, and there are concentric circles in the center of its face; combined with the movement, it genuinely appears to have some personality and charm.
The touchscreen display and physical button provide a practical edge. If you have difficulty with the voice controls or it misunderstands, you can tap the option you want. I also use the physical sleep button to shut it down immediately when it pipes up during meetings or when I'm otherwise engaged. All in all, it's a smart design. Encouraging Positive Behavior
Photograph: Simon Hill
Like the voice assistants and smart displays you are used to, ElliQ can answer basic queries, give you a weather report, remind you about an appointment, or take music requests. But ElliQ is also proactive, starting conversations throughout the day and engaging you in activities. Intuition Robotics cofounder and CEO Dor Skuler says creating this sense of autonomy is crucial to building engagement and getting people to think of ElliQ as a character in their lives.
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Tom's Guide
8 hours ago
- Tom's Guide
Forget "I, Robot" — here's what your home robot will actually be like by 2035
Artificial Intelligence | Smart Glasses | Wearable TechSmartphones | iPhones | Robots | Cars | TVs In the movie 'I, Robot' — which, coincidentally, takes place in 2035 — humanoid robots are ubiquitous, assisting people with every facet of daily life, from walking their dogs to making them breakfast to tucking them in at night. That is, until a malevolent AI overrides their programming to try and take over the world. In China, humanoid robots are now playing soccer matches against each other, and in early August, a store selling nothing but robots — including one that looks like Albert Einstein — just opened. Over in the U.S., Elon Musk told Tesla investors that he thinks the company will produce a million Optimus robots by 2030. Are Isaac Asimov's predictions eerily prescient? Will things be more benign? Or will the future of home robotics be somewhere in between? A number of companies already have prototypes of humanoid robots that can walk, jump and more, so it's only a matter of time before they're in all our homes, right? Maybe one day. However, the near future of home robotics — even ten years from now — is likely to be a lot more practical than exciting. And, there are a number of hurdles they'll need to overcome to be as pervasive as in science fiction. So, what will home robots look like in 2035? And what will it take to get one in every house? 'I personally believe that in 10 years, [in-home robots are] probably not going to be humanoids and that they're probably going to be focused on helping caregivers,' Steve Cousins, the executive director of the Stanford Robotics Center, said. Previous to his stint at Stanford, Cousins was the founder and CEO of Relay Robotics, which developed an autonomous delivery robot, and CEO of Willow Garage, a robotics and research lab that lasted from 2006 to 2014. 'When you think about aging, there's a market that's growing fast and, you know, we need help,' Cousins said. 'In the U.S., at least the baby boomers have a lot of money, and so it's a real market.' By the year 2035, the U.S. population will reach a new milestone: For the first time ever, people over the age of 65 will outnumber people under the age of 18, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Similar trends are already occurring in other developed nations, such as Japan and in Western Europe, which will put a tremendous strain on the healthcare system. But, this is where robots can step in. 'I personally believe that in 10 years, [in-home robots are] probably not going to be humanoids and that they're probably going to be focused on helping caregivers.' One company that already has robots in the field is ElliQ, a small desktop device that looks somewhat like an oversized coffee mug turned upside down. Designed to help elderly individuals with loneliness, ElliQ's 'head' lights up and turns in the direction of the person who's speaking — or who's speaking to it. The device, which costs $50 per month, has been out for a couple of years; New York State gave out 900 of them two years ago as part of a pilot program, which continues to this day. 'The surgeon general announced [loneliness] to be actually the largest epidemic in the US and the root cause of huge medical costs,' said Dor Skuler, CEO and Co-Founder of Intuition Robotics, which makes the ElliQ. 'The worst thing we [do to] prisoners is isolation. It's solitary confinement, and we end up actually sending our parents and the people we love more than anything into that state, and not because we want to, but that's just how life is very, very often, especially after the loss of the spouse.' Using AI, the ElliQ engages with a person throughout the day, asking them about themselves, reminding them to take medication, and keep them engaged. 'We had our tons of studies now that came out for the state of New York and medical journals and so on showing over 90% of people living with the ElliQ are seeing their loneliness reduced,' Skuler said. 'But we're also saying their health KPI is up, their hospitalization stays go down, the medication adherents go up.' 'When we started, we were just looking at pure companionship and loneliness. But you find out is once you're in that position of trust and high engagement, then you're in a position to influence a lot more than just this sense of loneliness.' Apart from its physical design, if a robot is going to be living inside your home, it has to be considered a part of the family. But how do you build up that acceptance? 'We knew that a device that moves autonomously around the house needed to be trustworthy and likeable,' Anthony Robson, Senior Manager of Product Development, Robotics for Amazon, said. Over the past few years, his team has been working on the Astro, Amazon's first home robot. The Astro is a small wheeled device with a tablet for a face, and a telescoping pole with a camera on the end that extends up about three feet. The Astro was unveiled in 2021, and is currently available as an invite-only product for $1,599. It's been getting generally positive reviews from those who own one. 'We worked hard to design Astro's personality and character traits with that in mind,' Robson said. 'What we didn't expect was how endearing customers would find it when Astro comes and hangs out with them, and how quickly they would think of it as another member of the family. It speaks to how robots in the home that are around us need to be good companions, respecting our space yet being helpful when needed, and being approachable while doing it.' Skuler thinks that home robotics companies are focusing on the wrong things. 'It's always interesting to me to see companies that approach me and ask for advice,' Skuler said. 'They're all working on the really hard computer science questions. Like, how do I navigate? How do I go upstairs? How do I open a cabinet? How do I take a carton of milk out of the fridge without, you know, wrecking it? But they don't really think of the human interaction in the relationship, especially when it's in the home.' 'Granted, [ElliQ] can't make you a cup of coffee. She's stationary and doesn't do anything beyond talking to you. But I think we've discovered some really, really interesting things. People build an actual relationship with their ElliQ. They see her as a friend, they call her a friend.' 'But more importantly, the project onto her things like trust. We accept her recommendations. And because it's proactive, they follow her recommendations, which is crazy when you think about it. We're talking about people in their 80s and 90s that have never lived with technology.' A big part of engendering that trust in robots is being reliable. The more a home robot is part of your home, the greater the expectations it has to meet. Earlier this year, Mobile ALOHA, a semi-autonomous robot made by Stanford engineers, was able to saute shrimp and perform some other household chores, such as cleaning and putting away dishes, after being trained by humans, who first performed the task a number of times. Cousins says it's a good start, but noted that the robot only had about a 70 percent success rate — and made a huge mess in the kitchen in the process. In order to gain acceptance, home robots will need to be as reliable as any other appliance - if not more. 'If you say, hey, I've got this car, 70% of the time it'll get you to work. Forget it, right? I'll just walk,' Cousins said. '70% doesn't work, 90% doesn't work, right? 95%, even 99% means every three months you have a breakdown on the way to work.' There'a a reason why humanoid robots, from Figure to 1X Elon Musk's Optimus capture the headlines (and funding — around $1.6 billion last year). First, there's the sci-fi aspect. From C-3PO to "The Jetsons" Rosie, some of the most iconic robots have approximated what real live people look like. But, on a more practical level, a humanoid robot can best adapt to how our homes are laid out: They don't have a huge footprint, they can reach things on high shelves, and they can go up and down stairs. In theory. 'What's in common between old people and humanoid robots? They fall down a lot, they break easily, and they're very expensive to fix,' Cousins said. To this point, outside of industrial environments, humanoid robots have yet to really be tested in the real world, and it's going to take a lot of baby steps to get there. Given that robot vacuums only recently learned to navigate around pet poop, it's probably going to take a lot longer for a humanoid robot to surmount one step, let alone a dozen. The footage of the Chinese robots playing soccer was definitely impressive, but a number of them had to be carted off the field in stretchers after toppling over. And, unless you can guarantee that would never happen in a home, it creates a potentially dangerous situation. 'I worry about a six-foot-high humanoid falling on grandma,' Cousins said. 'But I'm terrified of the six foot high humanoid walking up the stairs and the power goes out on it, and it comes down the stairs and takes Grandma out.' "We should build more R2-D2s and less C-3POs." ElliQ's Skuler says that he purposely avoided building something that looked like a human. 'Studies show that if you have eyes, people will, you know, will build a stronger relationship with them,' he said. 'But it's also super creepy. It's super dystopian. And like that's the line between human or unhuman, especially when you add deep fakes and the voice and, you know, soon you'll have like exo skin or whatever. It's like, why? Why would we ever want to build a machine or create technology that can learn to blur the lines between what's real and what's manufactured? Like, why is that a good thing for us as humans?' 'I just think developers are like in love with your science fiction, and are worried they won't be successful in building affinity and sentiment. So they take this shortcut. 'I would say, look at Star Wars,' Skuler said. 'Who's more lovable? Artoo or C-3PO? One looks like a robot has two colored lights and can only beep, and it's super lovable, and C-3PO, you know, is like a stuck up, an entity that's hard to help to and build a friendship with. We should build more R2-D2s and less C-3POs.' 'Today, there's a notable gap between the components that go into toy robots and those that enable industrial robots,' Robson said. 'We need that gap to be filled with optimized solutions that can be mass produced with reliability and performance that are suitable for consumer products at scale.' While humanoid robots may eventually become more present, the more likely scenario is that homes will have a number of cheap robots, each assigned to a specific task, rather than a single, expensive robot that can do everything. Why do you need a $20,000 humanoid Rosie that will push around a vacuum, when we already have a $200 robot vacuum that already does a pretty good job?" Looking at that Chinese store that started selling robots, the cheapest robot on sale comes in at a whopping $287,000. 'Realistically, in the course of 10 years, [robots] are going to be like the cost of another car, and you're going to have to have a reason to justify why you're going to buy this additional thing,' Cousins said. 'You know, like, look, there's almost self- driving on my Tesla, right? It's only $100 a month, but I don't pay for it because it doesn't let me actually read a book while I'm going to work. I have to supervise it.' As with any industry, the cost of building robots will drop as production increases, but will there be enough 10 years from now as to be economically approachable for the average consumer? It's definitely possible, but tricky. Let's take Musk's claim of a million robots a year by 2030. If we look at Tesla's production numbers, it took a little over a decade from the time the company started making cars until the point at which it was making more than a million a year. And, making a self-balancing robot with AI is a helluva lot harder than building a car, even if it is electric. But even then, will consumers feel the need to spend the equivalent of another car payment for a convenience? 'If it crosses the threshold where I don't have to pay attention, now you've given me back an hour a day," Cousins said. "OK maybe I'll pay $100 a month, but it's still kind of a question, right? It's not that hard for me to drive myself to work. It's the same thing with the home. It's like, yeah, it'd be nice if it's free, but I'm not going to pay $40,000 for it.' Fear not: a decade from now, your in-home robot isn't going to suddenly stop folding your clothes and try to murder you in your sleep. That's because you're unlikely to actually own a robot that can actually walk around your house doing your chores, much less go on a homicidal spree. Not only are these robots unlikely to be ready for mass home adoption, but if they are, they'll be too expensive for the average homeowner to afford. And, even if you could foot the bill for one, would you actually want one? Yes, more tasks will be automated. We already have robots that vacuum and mop, robots that mow your lawn, and robots that fold your laundry — and they'll continue to go about their business. We'll most likely have refrigerators that can re-order things for us, too. But how many other in-home tasks are there that would require a full-time robotic nanny? Regardless of the shape or physical design of in-home robots, they're likely to know a lot more about you, so that they can better anticipate your needs. Which is a creepiness of a whole other sort. • Artificial Intelligence • Smart Glasses• Wearable Tech• Smartphones • iPhones• Robots• Cars• TVs
Business Insider
4 days ago
- Business Insider
David Ellison says AI shouldn't scare Hollywood
As David Ellison takes over the newly formed Paramount Skydance, he has a clear message for Hollywood grappling with AI's encroachment: don't fear it. "We're not going to be afraid of tech, we're going to embrace it," Ellison said at a press event Thursday, where he fielded questions on his plans for the newly formed company. "I don't think AI is a replacement for creativity." Hollywood has a split personality when it comes to AI. Some like Lionsgate and AMC have publicly acknowledged recent deals with prominent AI company Runway, and Netflix has shared how it's used AI in the content creation process. Others, like Disney, have demurred about their work in the space, sensitive to the need to protect their famous IP and relations with talent who worry about the tech being used to steal their likeness and other risks. Disney and NBCUniversal are suing the AI company Midjourney, alleging copyright infringement. Ellison, whose father, Oracle's Larry Ellison, helped bankroll the merger, has made tech a big part of his pitch to combine his Skydance with the larger Paramount. He laid out a number of ways he plans to do that, starting with consolidation on the streaming side. The company has three streamers supported by three tech stacks, and the plan is to collapse those into one stack "really quickly." He also plans to use AI to improve the ability for people to find shows they like on the streamers and impact how content is created. Ellison stressed that his embrace of tech shouldn't worry creatives, though. He compared the use of AI to Pixar popularizing 3D computer animation over hand-drawn animation in the 1990s. "There was an uproar over the notion that technology was going to disrupt the animators," he said. "And Pixar would always say, 'We're just giving the animators their own pencil to create things you could never create before.' And I think we're in another one of those times we're going to see that level of shift." As far as applying AI, he said it could help make big-budget films. He gave the example of a blockbuster like the original "Terminator" and how it would be a lot more expensive to make today. That "basically means that young artists and filmmakers actually can't go out there and tell bold, original stories," he said. Ellison also imagined using advanced AI models to let people engage with characters directly: "That's a lot closer, I think, than people realize it is." But while people have given one-off examples of how AI can make individual projects cheaper, no one really knows how much it can move the needle for Hollywood. Paramount, like much of the rest of the industry, has to deal with a declining linear TV business, debt, and a sub-scale, still not globally profitable streaming business. A recent study commissioned by the Concept Art Association and the Animation Guild, meanwhile, predicted that AI would impact more than 200,000 Hollywood jobs over the next three years. Along with tech, Ellison said he plans to grow the streaming business by making more movies and shows. The company is open to joint ventures with other streamers. Paramount Skydance execs also said linear TV was still a focus. They singled out Nickelodeon as one channel that's an important way to keep families and kids, and would be a big priority for investment.
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Yahoo
Older Americans turning to AI-powered chatbots for companionship
Jill Smola is a 75-year-old retiree who understands the power of human connection, having spent her working days as an aide taking care of the elderly. "We would play games, put puzzles together," Smola told CBS News. She said human interaction was important, "so that they had somebody to talk to. That they just weren't sitting in a chair doing nothing." But these days, it's Smola sitting in a chair — a widow with a lung condition who lives alone. She says she doesn't get that human interaction anymore. "I can go weeks on end" without seeing someone, she said. Smola can't drive anymore and rarely leaves her Orlando home. But recently, she did gain a new companion: an AI-powered chatbot. She uses the chatbot, called ElliQ, to "visit" exotic places and play trivia. Smola talks to the chatbot up to five hours a day, and says the connection is truly meaningful. She said that people who might find the situation sad "don't understand." "I'd rather talk to a human being, but that's not possible for me, except if I get on the phone, so I enjoy her," Smola said, jokingly adding: "I enjoy her better than my daughter." Several AI companions have recently hit the market, including ElliQ, which normally costs $59 a month to use. Smola received the chatbot for free with funding from a federal grant. Thalia Porteny, an ethicist at Columbia University who studies seniors and AI used in the medical space, told CBS News that "loneliness is rampant," with one in four older adults saying they feel isolated. But Porteny also said she's concerned about the possibility that reliance on these chatbots could backfire and create even more isolation. "This could really go the wrong way if it's not deployed in an ethical and responsible way," she said. But for now, Smola said ElliQ is "the best thing that happened to me, because I always have somebody around. Even though it may not be a human, it's good enough for me." Quadruple murder suspect captured in Tennessee, officials confirm Chatbots turned to for companionship Evacuations in California as explosive fire burns over 80,000 acres Solve the daily Crossword
