AI Robots for Elderly Care: Japan's Solution to Aging Population Crisis
Japan tests AI robots like AIREC for elderly care amid a growing caregiver shortage
Matilda
AI Robots for Elderly Care: Japan's Solution to Aging Population Crisis
Recently in Tokyo an AI-driven robot leaned over a man lying on his back and gently put a hand on his knee and another on a shoulder and rolled him onto his side -- a manoeuvre used to change diapers or prevent bedsores in the elderly. Image : Google The 150-kg (330 lb) artificial intelligence-driven humanoid robot called AIREC is a prototype future "caregiver" for Japan's rapidly ageing population and chronic shortage of aged-care workers. "Given our highly advanced ageing society and declining births, we will be needing robots' support for medical and elderly care, and in our daily lives," said Shigeki Sugano, the Waseda University professor leading AIREC's research with government funding. Japan is the world's most advanced ageing society with a falling birth rate, dwindling working-age population and restrictive immigration policies. Its "baby boomer" generation, a bulging coho…
