Drudge Report links to a Sunday Express (U.K.) article which reports robots will be used to provide care for the elderly. At least in part it takes a dim view of this development.
As a soon-to-be (already?) elderly person, I have to say I don't take a dim view of using robots to provide elder care, providing of course they are more than chin-wiping machines. As short-term memory dims, the elderly can become frustrating for still-together humans to tolerate.
Intelligent machines, on the other hand, can be endlessly patient with mentally foggy elders, answering the same question over and over without irritation. And unlike human caregivers, machines won't get stoned, steal your stuff, beat you or overmedicate you to get some peace and quiet.
I expect the Japanese to lead the way in the development of eldercare robots, since they (a) have the tech skills and (b) have more elders and fewer young humans to care for them than anybody else.
