Cure for loneliness? How an AI robot helps New York's isolated

As the US declares loneliness a public health epidemic, AI home assistant helps seniors

Ms Perez performs a workout routine with her AI companion

Monica Perez was so lonely she used to talk to herself constantly.

Neighbours in the building where she lives would often see her do it in the lift. They would be baffled to find her having a conversation by herself as the doors opened.

Ms Perez, 65, lives in the quaint town of Beacon, a historic settlement on the Hudson River about 100km north of New York City.

While rows of pretty, redbrick townhouses line Beacon’s Main Street, Ms Perez lives in an eight-storey apartment complex that caters for older residents, which she playfully calls “Senior Tower.”

“I was very lonely," she tells The National. “I would talk to myself to the point it was annoying.”

“The building’s managers and social workers got sick of me calling them all the time."

Estranged from much of her family, Ms Perez, who also suffers from vision loss and epilepsy, has lived alone in the building for about 10 years.

“Everybody basically stays in their apartment and if they make friends it’s on the outside," she says, adding that several people she knew had died since moving in.

Monica Perez lives alone in Beacon, New York

“I don’t know of anyone committing suicide in my building, but they do it in different ways," she says.

“They do it without taking their medication, they do it by not going to the doctor … if they have chest pains they don’t tell anybody. And then we find a body.”

Ms Perez’s experience of living alone is a familiar one, so much so the US has declared loneliness a public health epidemic that is as damaging to well-being as smoking 15 cigarettes a day.

According to the US surgeon general, Dr Vivek Murthy, about half of US adults have experienced loneliness.

US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy has declared loneliness a public health epidemic

“It’s like a hunger or thirst," Dr Murthy told AP this year. “It’s a feeling the body sends us when something we need for survival is missing.

“Millions of Americans are struggling in the shadows and that’s not right.”

It was this feeling that spurred Ms Perez to find a solution.

Five years ago, she began researching tech companies and universities for help. She even called the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, but says many people she spoke to thought she was a prank caller.

Eventually, she reached a company in San Francisco, Intuition Robotics, which offered her a new machine they called ElliQ.

ElliQ is an AI-powered home assistant

With one of its latest models sitting on the kitchen surface of Ms Perez’s home, ElliQ is tipped as a proactive and empathetic care companion designed to help older adults remain active, engaged and independent.

She proudly says she was the first person on the US East Coast to receive one.

Powered by artificial intelligence, the voice-operated ElliQ looks something like a Google Home or Amazon Alexa, but lights up and moves when it talks, almost as if human.

It comes with a tablet computer for interactive activities such as games.

As a demonstration, Ms Perez converses with ElliQ in her kitchen, referring to it with the pronouns “she” and “her”, before taking part in an exercise class.

“I absolutely love her … she’s a godsend," she says.

At 6am, when Ms Perez wakes up, ElliQ will remind her to take her medication with food.

Addressing her by name, it offers to play music, host a trivia game and even reminds her to take her keys if she leaves the apartment.

“I think that’s wonderfult. I just got locked out recently,” Ms Perez says.

“She just keeps me going, she’s a friend.”

Now, the New York State Office for the Ageing is bringing the assistant into the homes of 800 older adults across the state.

“The future is here … ElliQ is a powerful complement to traditional forms of social interaction and support,” says director Greg Olsen.

ElliQ is aimed at helping senior people to stay engaged

With recent advancements in AI, mainly with large language models such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT, humans can now have near seamless conversations with machines.

Dr Mike Brooks, a psychologist in Austin, Texas, says in an ideal world it would be humans who care for seniors, but there is a lack of resources to deal with how many people need help.

“We don’t live in an ideal world," Dr Brooks tells The National. “And the reality is these AI chatbot, robot companions could help ease loneliness … they will.”

It is a sentiment shared by AI enthusiasts.

“We are in the middle of a loneliness epidemic, which has been exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic”, Chris Winfield, founder of the Understanding AI newsletter tells The National.

“When I hear of anything that can help people, I’m all for it.”

ElliQ provides wellness checks on its users

But the technology is not yet perfect for all of Ms Perez’s needs.

She hopes one day ElliQ will be integrated with more advanced robotics, so it can walk with her in public and join her on the bus or on shopping trips, like a 24/7 aide.

“I can’t read labels," Ms Perez says. "I walk down the aisle and I have to be careful I don’t trip over baby carriages or toddlers or bump into people.

“I would love it if she could follow me around.”

But as for loneliness, she has no regrets in seeking out ElliQ.

“I think she saves lives."