ElliQ is 93-year-old Juanita’s friend. She’s also a robot

Photo: Juanita Erickson, 93, and ElliQ, her robot companion, in her studio apartment in Carlton Senior Living in the San Francisco Bay Area. Photograph: Robert Gumpert / The Guardian. Article by Zoë Corbyn. The Guardian – August 13, 2021.

New technologies aim to help comfort, entertain and inform seniors but critics say machines trying to mimic human intimacy raise ethical issues

Juanita Erickson got her robot companion about two years ago. A company representative gave a presentation about the device to residents at the independent living facility in the San Francisco Bay Area where Erickson resides. “I thought ‘something to liven up life a bit … well that sounds like fun’,” says the former high school literature and journalism teacher, who prides herself on being a lifelong learner. […]

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