What does it say about human interaction and society that one of the hottest trends at CES 2019 is robots that act as surrogates for people?

Now we are not talking about doing work. Automation and the growth of it in various industries and aspects of human life are becoming commonplace. Instead the situation in question is one where robots are fulfilling roles as caretakers for the elderly, companions for dogs, and couriers to deliver mail.

An objective observer may not be concerned by this because maybe these robots will be there to augment the level of care available for patients, entertain animals while you are work, and deliver mail quickly without unnecessary chit chat. The more pessimistic view is that more and more people are having difficulty maintaining relationships, business or personal, with other people and would rather forego the trouble of doing so instead of handling the nuances and sometimes complicated scenarios human interaction may pose from time to time. Are conversations about the weather or discussions about the meaning of life so difficult? Are some people so unwilling to interact with their environment that they do not want to play catch with their dog?

Anxiety and depression have certainly been topics of mainstream conversation but the fears of human society breaking down due to the inability for the young and old to even talk to one another is a little overblown. People, in general, still like to laugh, love, and be around other people (with exceptions). What is also true is that there has been a rise in loneliness in economically developed countries. This may be due to perceptions of our peers’ life performance based on social media, the pressures to be successful, and the dramatic change in valued skills in the modern technology economy.

Regardless of the causes of these trends, the presence of these types of robots is not a reinforcement of ideas about negative progress in society so much as innovating to help fill gaps in our hectic lives. People work and people that work and have pets care enough about them to include them in their busy lives. Pets bring joy and companionship and their owners just want what is best for them. Are some of these owners lonely? That is a possibility, but robot pet caretakers do not mean that people cannot be bothered, are too out of shape to manage it, or simply do not care enough to provide for their pets’ welfare. They may just want what is best for them. This is also true of robots that watch the elderly. Whether it is WIFI cameras or actual automatons, family members want what is best for their older relatives and if these individuals gain some comfort from these solutions then so be it. Improvising in such a way may allow some older people maintain independence and avoid assisted living costs longer.

Will these robots take off? Only time will tell.