In 2012, Jake Schreier came out with the film Robot and Frank and gave the world a glimpse of Frank Weld and his robot accomplice. 2010 saw the release of Enthiran, the first movie in a much-loved film series, with the audience wholeheartedly embracing Chitti, the android robot. In 2019, the Malayalam industry came out with Android Kunjappan Version 5.25, portraying the intense bond between an aged man and his new robot companion. A string of movies, dystopian novels and quite a few years later, lies our first step towards a real-world robo-companion in 2024: ChatGPT-4o.
ChatGPT-4o, introduced by OpenAI on 13 May 2024, operates using the same level of intelligence as GPT-4 but is set apart by its remarkable capabilities across voice, vision and audio mediums. With an extremely realistic voice, natural tone and human-like pauses and inflection, the new model promises a range of possibilities to users. Some of the major specialities of GPT-4o include real-time conversational speech with space for user interruption, vision-based problem-solving techniques and another key element thought to be near impossible for AI: emotion detection and portrayal, including sarcasm and irony.
This can, of course, be utilised in various ways but a prominent scope of this model lies in reducing loneliness, which has slowly become one of the major issues taking over the world today. This is especially true for certain sections of the population, of which senior citizens form a major part. Take a look at this video released by WHO as early as 2017, for instance, surrounding depression in older people due to loneliness and loss of independence. In the present context, as per studies by Michigan Medicine in 2023, the elderly are extremely lonely due to a number of reasons including spouse death, generation gap, a loss of interest in the rapidly changing world around them, etc. Companionship through AI could be the solution to this problem, with models like ChatGPT-4o interacting with the elderly to give them a feeling of being wanted and loved.
Companionship-based AI models over the years.
The idea of using AI as a companion is no novel one. Tech and software companies over the years have tried their hand at developing a number of bots, which can extend a helping hand to senior citizens in several ways. A key example of this came during the COVID-19 pandemic with Intuition Robotics releasing their tableside robot ElliQ, meant to be a friend to senior citizens grappling with loneliness in uncertain times. Just how much this robot meant to the users was revealed in an interview with CBS News, when a user stated that they never felt fearful around the bot but instead loved the new best friend that they had gotten. ElliQ performed a set of functions, including reminding the users of their medication and food intake, dancing on demand, taking users on ‘virtual vacations’, suggesting personalized activities for them to engage in and even conversing with them on complex topics like love.
ElliQ isn’t the only one though. Various bots have been made across the years to make life easier for the older generation. Robear, for instance, is a nursing robot (that looks uncannily like Baymax from Big Hero 6!), that helps patients to move across the room and into wheelchairs as per their convenience. SAM monitors users periodically, ensuring that they remain safe and also providing them with regular news updates as well as messages from their near and dear ones. Zora (a robot who can speak multiple languages), iPal, Care-o-bot and Buddy are some other robots meant for companionship.
There is just one common element missing across these AI systems: humanness (referring simply to the quality of appearing human, and not to be mistaken for humanity). A research study by Chaturvedi and others titled Social companionship with artificial intelligence: Recent trends and future avenues explains the importance of personification of conversational agents, stating that creating empathetic chatbots that can gauge user emotion and have a distinct personality has become the need of the hour. Attempts to make artificial intelligence as human as possible have also been sped up further since the overwhelming response to the ChatGPT-4 language model released in 2023. ChatGPT-4o is the culmination of this humanization, making it an effective (and even emotive!) companion for the older generation.
GPT-4o as a companion to the elderly.
There are a number of ways in which ChatGPT-4o could work in collaboration with existing tools and offer companionship to the elderly. The first of these involves cognitive support, helping memory recall with reminders to take medicines and eat food on time as well as vision-based assistance to find missing belongings. Items (like spectacles propped up safely on the head while a frantic search for them ensues around the room!) that may not be found otherwise can easily be retrieved with the support of AI. In combination with other tools, this model can also perform regular at-home medical checkups, including monitoring blood pressure, sugar levels, etc.
Another major element is keeping the senior citizens entertained and constantly interacting with them to make them feel loved and wanted. With GPT-4o’s new real-time conversation model, this can easily be made possible and may even feel like a chat with a close friend. The model can also read to them just like a human companion, especially in the case of diminishing eyesight. Yet another important element that might sound a bit odd for the elderly, but is actually quite important to keep the brain healthy, is learning. ChatGPT acts as a one-on-one teacher, providing clear instructions and repeating itself as many times as they need to learn something new (whether that be the latest technology or a bit of ancient mythology!).
The future of companionship.
With each step forward, AI continues to surprise the world with the rate at which it is progressing. It might not be too long till we see robots and AI systems working in supporting roles in the fields of nursing, medicine, education, etc. Humanity, the capacity to empathize and support another individual, might be the only trump card left with humans soon, with such advancements constantly reminding us of the dire need to exercise that muscle of humanity that many have forgotten in this day and age. When the choice falls between AI companions and human companions, this humanity may well be the only thing that gives us an upper hand.
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