Companion Robots: A New Way to Betray the Elders

... and make a buck

This story is about the so called “companion robots” for elders.

A bossy spy with puppy eyes: Miro-E

Meet Miro (Miro-E), a cute robot designed allegedly to help the elders—but really to undercut the expectation of being taken care of by the family members during one’s old age—and to make a buck on promoting the benefits of zombiehood for all.

Why do I have so few kind words to say about this? Well, because this is yet another act of treachery. Yes, out of loneliness, people can accept a lie and get attached to an inanimate device that is programmed to mimic basic behavior of a living being, as if it were alive. Yes, being deprived of healthy emotional “food” makes people do all sorts of tragic things. But is this a way to live? And is this a way to spend one’s old age—being lonely and getting “nudged” and spied on by an electronic device with a Disney face? What treachery, again.

(And advertising? Can you imagine how easy it will be to “suggest” to the needy elders to “ask about” this…