home help robots

Marianne72 said:

I would love a care robot in my home.

The idea is an attractive one and I know that there is a lot of research going on for using robots in many aspects of human life now.

I think the areas of concern that would put me off the idea for the time being would be the quality of the programming and the reliability of the hardware, sensors and software.

Look at what a complete mess up Teslas self driving has been - constantly promised "by the end of the year" for Teslas self driving software (source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_predictions_for_autonomous_Tesla_vehicles_by_Elon_Musk ) yet the cars have the highest accident rates of all car brands in the USA, including many deaths when using the self driving software (source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/stevebanker/2025/02/11/tesla-again-has-the-highest-accident-rate-of-any-auto-brand/)

Would we expect better from companes producing the robotics? What sort of "user error" or malfunctions can happen when the users are often unlikely to be able to take over to compensate for the machines mistake? Would we trust the companies to own up to their failings of do another Tesla and when the car detects a collision is imminent then switch off auto pilot so it is legally not responsible for the crash.

The tech is likelt to be very expensive so I would expect them to be all subscription based to lock you in to feeding the corporate profits. Once they start then I expect there to be a reduction in government help for all but the poorest which is likely to lead to fewer options for care other than this for basic stuff. I can see an American style health insurance system becoming mandatory over time where the poorest just fall through the cracks in the system.

The sort of people this will potentially help are also likely to be the most vulnerable (physically, mentally and financially) so it may be a double edged sword to consider in its early years.

In principle a great idea but my real worries are around tech inadequacies and corporate greed.

Marianne72 said:

I would love a care robot in my home.

The idea is an attractive one and I know that there is a lot of research going on for using robots in many aspects of human life now.

I think the areas of concern that would put me off the idea for the time being would be the quality of the programming and the reliability of the hardware, sensors and software.

Look at what a complete mess up Teslas self driving has been - constantly promised "by the end of the year" for Teslas self driving software (source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_predictions_for_autonomous_Tesla_vehicles_by_Elon_Musk ) yet the cars have the highest accident rates of all car brands in the USA, including many deaths when using the self driving software (source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/stevebanker/2025/02/11/tesla-again-has-the-highest-accident-rate-of-any-auto-brand/)

Would we expect better from companes producing the robotics? What sort of "user error" or malfunctions can happen when the users are often unlikely to be able to take over to compensate for the machines mistake? Would we trust the companies to own up to their failings of do another Tesla and when the car detects a collision is imminent then switch off auto pilot so it is legally not responsible for the crash.

The tech is likelt to be very expensive so I would expect them to be all subscription based to lock you in to feeding the corporate profits. Once they start then I expect there to be a reduction in government help for all but the poorest which is likely to lead to fewer options for care other than this for basic stuff. I can see an American style health insurance system becoming mandatory over time where the poorest just fall through the cracks in the system.

The sort of people this will potentially help are also likely to be the most vulnerable (physically, mentally and financially) so it may be a double edged sword to consider in its early years.

In principle a great idea but my real worries are around tech inadequacies and corporate greed.

That's a sobering thought, that the Government might reduce funding for care. I would rather care robots were Government controlled if they do turn out to be effective - there would be more come-back, than leaving it to an Elon Musk, for example, who has the means to fight any complaint through court, using legal thugs-in-suits.