Tutorial 4 - Robotic Care
Summary
Over the past decade, AI technologies and assistive robotics have become increasingly popular in nursing and healthcare settings. In particular, during the COVID-19 pandemic, socially assistive robots have been adopted to support elder care provision while promoting physical distance and reducing the spread of the virus. These robots are used to combat loneliness and inactivity through social or physical interaction in hospitals or elderly-care facilities. One such example is Paro, a therapeutic robot resembling a baby harp seal, designed and developed by Japanese manufacturer Intelligent Systems Co. to comfort elder patients, particularly those with dementia and other cognitive impairments. While studies have found that Paro encouraged engagement and social interactions, critics have raised concerns about the social and ethical implications of robotic care. In addition to concerns about the safety, privacy, and autonomy of those cared for, scholars have called attention to the impact of robotic care on care work and caregivers. Given the already unequal distribution of care work – often borne by low-paid or unpaid women, PoC, and migrants – robotic care risks further eroding the value of care labour. In contrast, scholars have argued that care is both a fundamental human capability and a critical public infrastructure.
Core Readings
Mateescu A., Eubanks V. (2021, June 3). ‘Care bots’ are on the rise and replacing human caregivers.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/jun/03/care-bots-on-the-rise-elder-care
Vallor, S. (2011). Carebots and caregivers: Sustaining the ethical ideal of care in the twenty-first century. Philosophy & Technology, 24(3), 251-268.
https://discovered.ed.ac.uk/permalink/44UOE_INST/1viuo5v/cdi_gale_infotracacademiconefile_A373886519
Wang, X. (2021, August 26). A New AI Lexicon: Care. AI Now Institute.
https://medium.com/a-new-ai-lexicon/a-new-ai-lexicon-care-82c9031c98c4
Prompts
Each subgroup should discuss one of these prompts (with the letter matching your subgroup letter) before the tutorial.
- C) How do you define care? What knowledge or experience do you consider to come up with this definition? What technical and non-technical solutions might you devise to improve care?
- D) How would you define and promote trust in robotic care? And what level of trust would you expect from a system that cares for you?
- A) What do you think is the impact of robotic care on the safety, autonomy, and privacy of those cared for?
- B) How do you think robotic care changes the experience of caregivers and care labour? How might existing systems of care change over time with the introduction of robotic care?