Are the robots finally coming home?

by Hans Timmerman

My first book in 1982 was about robots. About the robots entering the factory. How they could take over heavy and monotonous work in the factory as flexible, mechanical machines. Besides the interested companies for this industrial automation, the study also attracted the attention of journalists who were eager to hear when this type of robots would also start supporting us at home. At that time, however, the home robot was still a dream of the future. But with Apple’s announcement in recent weeks, it seems that future has come much closer. Over the past decades, robotic technology has become available in and around the home: robot mowers and vacuums that quietly and independently take over this boring work from us. Or the pet-like home robots like Amazon’s Astro, which can also watch over and guard the house when you’re away, or Sony’s robot dog Aibo. Finally, the serving robots that we see appearing in more and more hospitality establishments. The idea of robots in our homes and the service sector is not new. But with the advent of new AI speech capabilities, entirely new human communication and usage possibilities emerge. What can we expect in the coming years?

In our continuous progress to make technology make our lives easier and better, the use of mechanical robot technology fits like no other. The ability to partially take over human physical behavior is convenient and economically sensible. A robot never gets sick, doesn’t take days off, doesn’t ask for a raise, and never arrives late. Although we can increasingly deliver knowledge work from our homes, there are still many professions where human ‘hands and eyes’ are needed to perform daily work. Think of hospitality, healthcare, entertainment, and security. Industrial robots have the disadvantage that they can only be deployed in secure industrial environments. Now the mobile robot is coming to both public and private spaces in and around our homes.

If we can make self-driving cars, a similar home, garden, or serving robot should not be a technical problem. Especially if the robot can do its work in well-defined spaces. The game-changer in the current evolution of ‘domestic robots’ is, of course, the development of new speech capabilities, AI, and machine learning. These techniques give robots the ability to not only communicate at a human level but also to learn from data, make decisions independently, and adapt to new situations without human intervention. This suddenly greatly expands the possibilities and allows them to perform tasks that were previously unthinkable due to their complexity and nuance.

Robots in the home environment

The leap from using robots in the home is perhaps the most revolutionary of the current robot development. They can move and perform tasks more accurately – and therefore safely – in a human-inhabited environment. Sensors, cameras, wireless communication, and navigation make them well-controllable movable devices that we can precisely instruct on what to do and what not to do in all kinds of situations. An important aspect lies in the area of personalization and specific adaptations. Even climbing stairs and opening doors is no longer a technical limitation. This allows them to become an integral part of a household.

Home robots can improve and enhance our daily lives in and around the home and have become a broad and attractive market for various innovations. The household market was worth several billion euros worldwide in 2020. Indications of potential growth of ten to twenty percent could make it a hundred-billion-dollar business by 2030. The number of household tasks that home robots can perform ranges from cleaning to cooking and from security to companionship. Usability increases every year, making them more attractive to consumers to improve our quality of life. In addition to the mentioned routine tasks, the potential available care function of home robots is important. Not only performing various supportive activities such as food and medicine delivery, assistance with personal care, and a handy ‘hand’ in and around the bed, but also as supervisors for sick and bedridden patients.

Robots in healthcare

Because healthcare is naturally heavy and labor-intensive, robots can greatly support caregivers in that area and take work off their hands. Just as industrial robots in the factory could take over monotonous, heavy, and boring tasks. We’ve been hearing stories about robots for the sick and elderly for years. Especially in Japan, where the population is aging, ‘care robotics’ has been known for decades, and these types of applications are a fairly normal sight. Last year, Spain allocated 6 million euros for 1000 service robots for the care of the elderly, not to replace current caregivers but mainly to lighten their workload and thus improve working conditions.

There seems to be an unstoppable rise of care robots that, in addition to practical aspects, also raise ethical challenges. Especially for singles, an always-present robot can be helpful, not only as a handy butler but also to fulfill social tasks and reduce loneliness. There have been ‘cuddle robots’ designed as cuddly toys for less able-bodied and/or demented elderly people, which can also have therapeutic value. In addition, they can serve as a ‘hub’ to communicate with caregivers or other individuals or friends. Through machine learning, they increasingly become understanding, personal companions, able to remember conversations and important matters for them. Of course, privacy and personal control come into play here: how do you make such applications reliable and ensure that users can always intervene if something goes wrong.

Robots the solution for everything?

The advent of domestic robots seems to quickly become a huge market and can support humans in many ways in and around the home. The care robot can perform various supportive tasks at the bedside, but it doesn’t make the caregiver redundant. Giving a lonely person a cuddle robot may provide relief, but it doesn’t solve the problem of social loneliness. As always, technology is supportive and serving but can never take over the function of the versatile and intelligent human. Nor can it take over the responsibility of a human; after all, it is nothing more than a smart tool. And it cannot love someone, care for someone, or take over the social human care. The social and empathetic human will always have to remain present, also to ensure safety.

There are even ideas to develop ‘ethical black boxes’ to retrospectively check what exactly went wrong, why it happened, and how it can be avoided if something goes wrong. All care robots should contain a ‘data recorder’ to monitor and help prevent careless or unwanted behavior. Although bringing a glass of water or a meal or relaying a crying call is already an interesting option for the first care robots, assistance with washing, dressing, and getting into bed will often still be provided by humans for the time being. Robots enter our homes as helpers in care and household chores. But they are still far from replacing human care itself.

The author, Hans Timmerman, is IT-trendwatcher and blogger at Risk & Compliance Platform Europe.