Debate of the Week: Are humans the best healers?

| Read time: 8 minute(s)
Debate of the Week: Are humans the best healers? Can robots save the day? Maybe. Technologically, robots may never be as good at caregiving as humans can be, but—given the huge demand and low supply—they may be good enough. Demand for existing consumer robots—not just Roomba, the robot vacuum cleaner, and its kind, but also some caregiving robots—is already skyrocketing. According to an industry research firm, the consumer robot market will have a value of $ 34.1 billion by 2022—up from just $ 3.8 billion in 2015. Japan, a leader in the robotic service sector, expects its domestic industry alone for caregiving robots for the elderly to grow to $ 3.8 billion by 2035, at which point a full third of Japan’s population will be 65 or older.According to Merrill Lynch, the global personal robot market hit $ 17.4 billion in 2020. New technologies tend to sneak up on us like that. (If you do not believe me, go ask Siri or Alexa.) Though Japan is leading the “carebot” charge, many countries all over the world are not far behind. These robots may range in size, appearance, function, and purpose, but they all serve to fill caregiving gaps. BeanQ, for example, is made by Roobo in China and has been called “childcare for the masses”.Designed to be “an early educator, sharing some of the parental burdens,” BeanQ is reportedly already used in millions of middle-class Chinese households. The robot responds with simple words and phrases and an array of emoji facial expressions displayed on a large screen that serves as its face. It also has a “remote babysitting” mode, automatically taking snapshots of the kids and uploading them for their parents to see online. The Care-o-bot, from Fraunhofer IPA in Germany, is at work in a number of German-assisted living facilities .Like the social directors, aides, and volunteers typically employed in such facilities, Care-o-bot does not just bring meals to the residents, but also plays memory games with them to help keep their minds sharp. The Dinsow eldercare robot, from CT Asia Robotics in Thailand, helps seniors remember to take their pills, tracks their health, and serves as a videophone for calls with family and doctors. It entertains, too—doubling as a karaoke machine. ElliQ, from Intiriont Robotics in the United States, is a social robot companion that engages its owner throughout the day, providing appointment reminders and assisting with video calls to friends and family. Several specific concerns have been raised by caregivers. Inability to give real love.Inability to fully decode emotions. One mother worried that robots will never understand “the jumble and mixed emotions [that] young children so often display and parents [only] slowly come to recognize.” Lack of human fragility. As one father explained, “A robot is intended to be 100% correct. But if [robot] caregivers don’t show any human fragility, then you are depriving the child of some human characteristics that will need to be learned later in life.” Also, class dynamics need to be considered. The digital revolution was heralded by many as a great equalizing force. Yet we have seen one digital divide after another emerge, with the wealthy having much greater access to everything from high-speed internet to technologically advanced cars. Is it possible that those who can afford human care will receive it, while those who cannot will be stuck with robots? Or will working-class children grow up raised by low-end, $100 caregiving robots, while wealthy children are raised by a mechanical Mary Poppins? What do you think, are humans the best healers? Yes Chatbots can be taught to ask questions, but they cannot actually understand the problems presented to them. Only a properly trained fellow human can get to the bottom of someone’s difficulties. No All humans have flaws which can prevent them from giving the best treatment.They may not have sufficient sympathy for their patients or be stuck in their ways and blind to alternative solutions.

Can robots save the day? Maybe. Technologically, robots may never be as good at caregiving as humans can be, but—given the huge demand and low supply—they may be good enough.

Demand for existing consumer robots—not just Roomba, the robot vacuum cleaner, and its kind, but also some caregiving robots—is already skyrocketing. According to an industry research firm, the consumer robot market will have a value of $ 34.1 billion by 2022—up from just $ 3.8 billion in 2015. Japan, a leader in the robotic service sector, expects its domestic industry alone for caregiving robots for the elderly to grow to $ 3.8 billion by 2035, at which point a full third of Japan’s population will be 65 or older.According to Merrill Lynch, the global personal robot market hit $ 17.4 billion in 2020. New technologies tend to sneak up on us like that. (If you do not believe me, go ask Siri or Alexa.)

Though Japan is leading the “carebot” charge, many countries all over the world are not far behind. These robots may range in size, appearance, function, and purpose, but they all serve to fill caregiving gaps. BeanQ, for example, is made by Roobo in China and has been called “childcare for the masses”.Designed to be “an early educator, sharing some of the parental burdens,” BeanQ is reportedly already used in millions of middle-class Chinese households. The robot responds with simple words and phrases and an array of emoji facial expressions displayed on a large screen that serves as its face. It also has a “remote babysitting” mode, automatically taking snapshots of the kids and uploading them for their parents to see online. The Care-o-bot, from Fraunhofer IPA in Germany, is at work in a number of German-assisted living facilities .Like the social directors, aides, and volunteers typically employed in such facilities, Care-o-bot does not just bring meals to the residents, but also plays memory games with them to help keep their minds sharp. The Dinsow eldercare robot, from CT Asia Robotics in Thailand, helps seniors remember to take their pills, tracks their health, and serves as a videophone for calls with family and doctors. It entertains, too—doubling as a karaoke machine. ElliQ, from Intiriont Robotics in the United States, is a social robot companion that engages its owner throughout the day, providing appointment reminders and assisting with video calls to friends and family.

Several specific concerns have been raised by caregivers.

Inability to give real love.Inability to fully decode emotions. One mother worried that robots will never understand “the jumble and mixed emotions [that] young children so often display and parents [only] slowly come to recognize.” Lack of human fragility. As one father explained, “A robot is intended to be 100% correct. But if [robot] caregivers don’t show any human fragility, then you are depriving the child of some human characteristics that will need to be learned later in life.”

Also, class dynamics need to be considered. The digital revolution was heralded by many as a great equalizing force. Yet we have seen one digital divide after another emerge, with the wealthy having much greater access to everything from high-speed internet to technologically advanced cars. Is it possible that those who can afford human care will receive it, while those who cannot will be stuck with robots? Or will working-class children grow up raised by low-end, $100 caregiving robots, while wealthy children are raised by a mechanical Mary Poppins?

What do you think, are humans the best healers?

Yes

Chatbots can be taught to ask questions, but they cannot actually understand the problems presented to them. Only a properly trained fellow human can get to the bottom of someone’s difficulties.

No

All humans have flaws which can prevent them from giving the best treatment.They may not have sufficient sympathy for their patients or be stuck in their ways and blind to alternative solutions.

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