Irish Examiner view: Robots are coming to help older people

Surprising new research involving UCD suggests that older people and carers alike would be happy with robotic assistance 

In real life, robotic assistants will not look much like the droids imagined in science fiction. But the surprising thing is how open people are to such robotic assistance. Picture: iStock

“Can’t get the staff” is the modern lament, and one sector where it can be heard at its loudest is within the profession of social care.

Small wonder, then, that optimists are looking towards technology to do some of the heavy lifting in the future. But more surprising is the generally high level of support for the proposition that nan’s best friend and helper, 2035, might be a combination of R2-D2 and C-3PO, the droids who introduced us to artificial intelligence (AI) in Star Wars.

More than seven in 10 pensioners and carers in Ireland would be open to allowing care robots to look after elderly people in their home, according to an international study.

The research was carried out by a team from Japan, Finland, and Ireland, including UCD academics, and the results are published in the medical journal Archives of Gerontology and Geriatrics.

With the global population of people aged over 65 expected to increase by 1.5bn by 2030, there will be societal challenges to overcome. 

Without further medical advance, for example, there will be many more people with dementia. Robotics and AI are seen as means of managing these demands, and some work on augmented reality is viewed in a similar context.

Apple is a company which has, historically, set the benchmark in introducing new technologies to a wider public. It is four decades since its iconic 1984 advertisement grabbed the attention of the world and 40 years also — the anniversary is next January — since the original Macintosh was launched.

And it was 25 years ago last month since Steve Jobs shipped the iMac. Both machines seemed eye-wateringly expensive at the time, as did the iPhone, but they all became must have technology. Now it’s placing its bets on a VR/AR headset, the Vision Pro, which is designed to be worn around the home. 

Seven in 10 pensioners surveyed — many of whom encountered C3PO and R2D2 in the first Star Wars movie 46 years ago — are open to the idea of robots assisting them. Picture: Lucasfilm/PA

The time may be nearer than we think when people can take their own vital sign readings, interact fully with medical staff, and replenish memories within the familiar boundaries of their own space.

Such technology and AI is already being used to support the partially sighted and neuro-divergent people. But helping the aged is a massive market. 

Watch this (virtual) space.

Losing their moral compass

There have always been those in society who think that rules are for other people, or who like to game the system and tell you how clever they have been in doing so. The problem is that their numbers seem to be increasing.

Ghost train: Iarnród Éireann discovered that up to 40% of reservations on some trains were 'phantom' bookings making trains appear to be booked out when they were not. Stock picture: Larry Cummins

At one level, it can be seen by the rise in those who are prepared to cheat the nation’s broadcaster by dodging their TV licence fees. And then there is the alternative version: The popularity of “dodgy” set-top boxes which provide illegal feeds of licensed content such as Premier League football.

Both of these elements of anti-social behaviour involve financial benefit for the perpetrator and a potential penalty of increased costs for those who play it straight. But what about scams and sharp practice which simply bring inconvenience?

Into that category we can place a dodge, which sadly seems to be the province of pensioners and free travel pass holders, and which makes life more difficult for fellow citizens.

Irish Rail has revealed that up to 40% of seat reservations on some trains are “phantoms”, taken up by multiple bookings at no cost so individuals can maintain maximum flexibility over which service to actually use. This means that some trains can appear to be fully booked even when they are not.

Mandatory reservations were introduced during the covid pandemic so passenger numbers could be managed to ensure social distancing. Customers who did not make their bookings online could reserve themselves a “space” at no cost.

Irish Rail cited one example of a train last November with a capacity of 290 passengers, where 138 seats had been booked without the person paying anything. The rail operator concluded that a number of these were “phantom” bookings.

Now this flexibility has to end by reducing the number of seats available for reservation on each service.

There was a time when such practices were common in the catering and hospitality businesses with restaurants particularly damaged by “no-shows”. They have attempted to remedy that by regularly contacting the customer asking for confirmation and demanding compensation if they don’t turn up.

None of this should be necessary but, when people lose their moral compass — and wilfully letting others down is part of that — then everyone suffers.

Clipping wings

It’s been nearly a dozen years since the Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) published its first set of safety requirements for “unmanned aerial systems” — or drones to the rest of us.

While drones are most often used for innocent or even helpful purposes, they can constitute an intrusion to privacy and safety. Stock picture: Larry Cummins

This nascent technology was slow to grow at first. In 2014, permits had been issued to 22 operators to use unmanned aerial vehicles in the Republic, up from 14 the year before.

Since then, growth has been explosive. The IAA currently has 7,154 operators registered and over 16,000 trained pilots. 

Not only has the law been lagging behind the huge expansion in users, it is also well off the pace of the technology.

Drones used for fun are in the ‘Open’ category, which has three sub-categories — A1, A2, and A3. A drone weighing under 250g is in the A1 category and doesn’t need to be registered with the IAA. But if it has a camera it must be registered. 

Astonishingly there is no means of identifying a drone, and whether it is registered or not, through a remote id, a “digital licence plate”. That will change in January.

What is also about to change is the public is to be asked, for the first time, for its views on this intrusive technology in a consultation document from the Department of Transport. You might think this is several years overdue. And you would be right.