Despite innovations that make it easier for seniors to keep living on their own rather than moving into special facilities, most elderly people eventually need a hand with chores and other everyday activities.
Friends and relatives often can't do all the work. Growing evidence indicates it's neither sustainable nor healthy for seniors or their loved ones [nih.gov]. Yet demand for professional caregivers already far outstrips [thestreet.com] supply, and experts say this workforce shortage [reuters.com] will only get worse.
So how will our society bridge this elder-care gap? In a word, robots.
Just as automation has begun to do jobs previously seen as uniquely suited for humans, like retrieving goods from warehouses [businessinsider.com], robots will assist your elderly relatives [phys.org].
Would you entrust grandma to Johnny 5 [wikipedia.org]?