Robots should NOT be in our care homes for the elderly
I read last week about a care home down south using a robot to talk to its residents.
Supposedly the robots can sense how the residents are feeling, download the information and then the staff can then react to it.
I thought that was so incredibly sad.
Old people really need social interaction and using a robot like this seems so cold.
I don’t know about you, but I can’t stand selfservice checkouts.
I always try to avoid them. I know how to use them, but they are taking someone’s job.
Given a choice, I’d always go to the checkout staffed by a living, breathing, person.
When a machine asks me a question, I find myself answering out loud, not pressing buttons.
And when I pass an “electronic woman” telling me which direction to go in when I’m in an airport, I always give her the “death stare”!
I know it’s not a real woman, but still...
I hope these robots never take off.
Our old people need a bit of human contact – it’s vital for them every day.
Imagine if we got to the stage where the elderly in homes were being looked after solely by robots.
It’s a hideous thought and it will probably never happen.
But, a few years ago, if you’d told anyone that one day we’d be trialling robots in care homes, chances are they wouldn’t have believed you.
I really would like to see the money that this robot cost going towards another salary in the care industry.