The Internet and social media, or people's misuse and dependence on them, have been blamed for increasing loneliness, with the more recent spread of so-called generative artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots seen as likely to make things worse before they get better. — AFP
DUBLIN: Poet William Wordsworth might have "wandered lonely as a cloud," but two centuries on, people are more likely to be lonely because of the cloud.
The sight of people seemingly entranced by their phones or laptops, eyes down on screens and oblivious to all around them, might leave a cynic thinking such isolation is self-inflicted.
All the same, Americans are facing a "loneliness epidemic," according to US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, which means people face a "greater risk of cardiovascular disease, dementia, stroke, depression, anxiety, and premature death."
There is even such a thing as a "loneliness economy" - of single-renter apartments, rising pet ownership, single-portion food products, and so on. And not just in the US: a survey in 2023 showed Belgians are feeling increasingly lonely, while Britain has a "loneliness awareness week" funded by the government.
The Internet and social media, or people's misuse and dependence on them, have been blamed for increasing loneliness, with the more recent spread of so-called generative artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots seen as likely to make things worse before they get better.
"Right now, all the evidence points to having a real friend as the best solution," said Murali Doraiswamy, professor of psychiatry and geriatrics at Duke University, in research published in the journal Science Robotics.
But Doraiswamy and colleagues from Duke, Auckland and Cornell universities believe that AI-enhanced robots "may one day help alleviate the loneliness epidemic."
"Until society prioritises social connectedness and eldercare, robots are a solution for the millions of isolated people who have no other solutions," Doraiswamy said.
So-called large language model capabilities, such as those seen in ChatGPT, could mean robots that can 'chat' to their owners.
"But we need to be careful to build in rules to ensure they are moral and trustworthy," said Elizabeth Broadbent of the University of Auckland. – dpa
