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186 Chapter 15 Is There a Robot in Your Future? Accepting Non-Human Help In the 2012 film Robot & Frank, an aging cat burglar, played by the veteran actor Frank Langella, finds support and friendship with a shiny white robot that his son bought him as a caregiver.1 Frank had developed serious memory problems, his home was a mess, and he was subsisting on Cap’n Crunch. he refused to move to “the memory center,” so to his son, the robot seemed the next best thing. “You have got to be kidding,” says the incredulous Frank when he first sees the robot. “I am not this pathetic. I don’t have to be spoon-fed by some Goddamn robot.” When his son tries to convince him the robot is more like “a butler,” Frank responds, “That thing is going to murder me in my sleep.” But robot (Frank refuses to name it) is here to stay. It has been programmed to keep Frank healthy and is a gourmet health cook. So long sweet cereal, hello kale. robot encourages Frank to get off his duff, take long walks, and “find a hobby.” Before long, Frank’s brilliant idea for a hobby is to train robot to assist him in his next heist. The film, set in “the near future,” gives other glimpses of what may soon await us. When Frank receives a telephone call at home, he doesn’t have to pick up a receiver. a disembodied voice tells him who is calling and if he wishes to talk, he simply says hello and the image of the caller (usually one of his two children) appears on a large screen. When he visits his beloved library, his favorite librarian (played by Susan Sarandan) tells him dejectedly they are closing for “renovation”—meaning getting rid of their last books and creating instead an “environment.” We hear the obnoxious “library environment” consultant discuss a planned historical display about the Dewey Decimal system. Most poignant though is Frank’s growing relationship with robot as it becomes a pal as well as an accomplice. although robot is not meant to have moral and ethical agency, we can easily imagine how emotionally tied one could become to this walking, talking machine that is willing to sacrifice itself for Frank’s well-being. as someone who is a bit of a Luddite myself, the film challenged me to Is There a Robot in Your Future? 187 wonder “Why not?” Since few in our society have either the interest (the government and the private sector) or the means (most of the public) to pay real, live, home care workers a living wage, why not seek help from a robotic friend? I took a trip to atlanta to discuss the future of robotics and home technology with researchers at Georgia Institute of technology, who are leaders in studying cutting-edge ways to help older adults remain in their homes. at the human Factors and aging Lab (human factors is an emerging branch of psychology dealing with how people interact with products, physical environments, and equipment or technology), researchers conducted indepth interviews with twenty-one people aged sixty-five to ninety-three about their views of receiving help from a robot. Participants were first shown a video of honda’s robot “asimo,” and then given a checklist of forty-eight tasks. They were asked, “Imagine you needed help with this task. Would you prefer a human or a robot?” “What was really impressive to me was how open-minded the older adults were to robot assistance,” said professor Wendy rogers, co-director of the lab. For many tasks, participants had no preference for a human over a robot, and in fact for some tasks they actually preferred a robot—including for housekeeping , laundry, medication reminders, learning something new, and hobbies . Conversely, on average, participants reported they would prefer human assistance for more personal tasks such as bathing and dressing; preparing meals and deciding on which medication; and helping with social interaction, such as entertaining.2 another surprising finding, said Jenay Beer, who was completing her doctoral work there, is that older adults like the idea of “collaborating” with a robot, rather than just sitting there ordering the robot around. For example, a robot might be useful for pulling the troublesome bottom fitted sheet on a mattress, while the older person would complete the task of changing the top sheet and blankets. “The big goal for the older adults was to...

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