reports
Help me, robot! They help the disabled, entertain patients in hospitals, and support therapies for autistic children. But from robots in healthcare, we expect much more than just manual help. We want human touch. Robots augmented with social abilities should react to our emotions and create authentic relationships so we can trust them. What care do we want in the future? And how can we involve robots to make health care smarter?
A patient with emotional baggage A small, white robot with big eyes enters the patient’s room. It asks the patient about their mood, provides sufficient information on their condition, carries out a medical interview and checks blood pressure. It analyzes all information through the Artificial Intelligence system. A diagnosis is ready in a few seconds. The pa-
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tient receives a prescription, an exhaustive list of recommendations and a bill. It seems that an ideal patient visit, during which perfect service and medicine based on facts, i.e. data, should look like this. But an ideal doctor-robot is not able to satisfy the patient’s emotional needs, which are equally important as treating a disease. It does not show emotions and
empathy, and it does not accept any comments. It follows the procedure authoritatively. Although robots as machines perform well on a production line, interaction, communication, support and empathy are more significant when it comes to medical care. In short, it is more important to meet social needs that are one of the most significant needs on the ladder of all needs. At the same time, they are the most difficult to satisfy, as they are intangible and elusive, and they vary among people. We realize social interactions differently, just like we alleviate hunger through food adjusted to our taste and culture (as long as we can afford this luxury).Everything depends on the living environment, upbringing, personality and priorities. While experiencing disease, all emotions which are present in a human being are brought to a boil. In this
