Anyone who saw the Star Wars films (and who didn’t?) would have warmed to the robots C-3PO and R2-D2. Articulate, funny, empathetic and big hearted, they were the ultimate in artificial intelligence (AI). I’d have one quicker than you could say ‘vacuum my stairs!’ But could powerful AI robots being developed today make life better for older people and help the NHS deliver better care?

UK Health Minister Stephen Barclay believes it can. At the G7 Health Ministers summit in Japan in May, he led discussions on how AI can improve care in hospitals and in care homes. Japan, which has the world’s oldest population, uses robots in care homes across the country.

Mr Barclay visited the Silver Wing Social Welfare Corp, a Tokyo-based nursing home that uses humanoid robots and AI technology to entertain and monitor its residents. Among other applications it helps move residents to and from their beds, which staff say has reduced pain in their lower backs while also respecting residents’ privacy.

"AI and robot technology," Mr Barclay said, "could help to keep elderly people from making avoidable trips to overstretched hospitals."

It’s long been known that being helped in their own homes would prevent many older people reaching crisis point and needing to go to A&E. But 165,000 vacancies in the care sector has brought home care services to breaking point. Many older people are dying without receiving help: a report published in March 2023 by Age UK said that in the year 2021/22, 28,890 older people died without ever receiving the care and support they were waiting for. This equates to 79 deaths a day, 554 a week, and 2408 a month.

It will probably be several years before robots can vacuum the stairs or help older people in practical ways, but a new ‘companion robot’ is helping in the most important way, by keeping older people connected with family and friends. Elli.Q uses AI that makes technology intuitive and easily accessible. It also promotes an active lifestyle through encouraging video chats, online games and social media.

Murali Doraiswamy, MBBS, FRCP, professor of Psychiatry and Geriatrics at Duke University and member of the Duke Institute for Brain Sciences believes that, "Until society prioritises social connectedness and eldercare, robots are a solution for the millions of isolated people who have no other solutions."

His comment comes in a newly published report (12 July 2023) describing research at Auckland, Duke, and Cornell Universities, where they are examining how to accurately measure how much a companion robot is helping someone, together with the ethical considerations for governments, policy makers, technologists, and clinicians. They are urging stakeholders to come together to develop guidelines for trust, agency, engagement, and real-world efficacy.

In the meantime, I’m keeping an eye out for trials of AI robots in a domestic setting. I will be one of the first to sign up.