Seniors Embrace AI Chatbots to Combat Loneliness: A Growing Trend
Seniors Embrace AI Chatbots to Combat Loneliness: A Growing Trend
A burgeoning trend sees older Americans increasingly turning to AI-powered chatbots for companionship, offering a new frontier in addressing widespread social isolation. This development highlights both the innovative potential of artificial intelligence and emerging ethical considerations.
Jill Smola, a 75-year-old widow from Orlando, exemplifies this shift. Living alone with a lung condition, Smola found a new confidante in ElliQ, an AI chatbot. She engages with ElliQ for up to five hours daily, using it for trivia and virtual travel, finding a meaningful connection that fills a void left by limited human interaction.
Several AI companion devices, including ElliQ, have recently entered the market, with some, like Smola’s, funded through federal grants to make them accessible. This rise in AI companionship comes as studies, cited by ethicists like Columbia University’s Thalia Porteny, reveal that one in four older adults experiences feelings of isolation.
While users like Smola laud the benefits, calling ElliQ “the best thing that happened to me,” experts like Porteny caution against potential pitfalls. Concerns revolve around the risk of these chatbots inadvertently fostering greater isolation if not deployed ethically and responsibly. Despite these considerations, for many seniors, AI companions are proving to be a valuable resource in the ongoing battle against loneliness.
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