Center for Health Technology, University of Plymouth, Plymouth, Devon, UK.
Department of Nursing, Auckland University of Technology, 90 Akoranga Drive, Auckland, New Zealand.
BMC Geriatr. 2020 Jul 14;20(1):244. doi: 10.1186/s12877-020-01641-5.
Use of companion robots may reduce older people's depression, loneliness and agitation. This benefit has to be contrasted against possible ethical concerns raised by philosophers in the field around issues such as deceit, infantilisation, reduced human contact and accountability. Research directly assessing prevalence of such concerns among relevant stakeholders, however, remains limited, even though their views clearly have relevance in the debate. For example, any discrepancies between ethicists and stakeholders might in itself be a relevant ethical consideration while concerns perceived by stakeholders might identify immediate barriers to successful implementation.
We surveyed 67 younger adults after they had live interactions with companion robot pets while attending an exhibition on intimacy, including the context of intimacy for older people. We asked about their perceptions of ethical issues. Participants generally had older family members, some with dementia.
Most participants (40/67, 60%) reported having no ethical concerns towards companion robot use when surveyed with an open question. Twenty (30%) had some concern, the most common being reduced human contact (10%), followed by deception (6%). However, when choosing from a list, the issue perceived as most concerning was equality of access to devices based on socioeconomic factors (m = 4.72 on a scale 1-7), exceeding more commonly hypothesized issues such as infantilising (m = 3.45), and deception (m = 3.44). The lowest-scoring issues were potential for injury or harm (m = 2.38) and privacy concerns (m = 2.17). Over half (39/67 (58%)) would have bought a device for an older relative. Cost was a common reason for choosing not to purchase a device.
Although a relatively small study, we demonstrated discrepancies between ethical concerns raised in the philosophical literature and those likely to make the decision to buy a companion robot. Such discrepancies, between philosophers and 'end-users' in care of older people, and in methods of ascertainment, are worthy of further empirical research and discussion. Our participants were more concerned about economic issues and equality of access, an important consideration for those involved with care of older people. On the other hand the concerns proposed by ethicists seem unlikely to be a barrier to use of companion robots.
使用陪伴机器人可能会减少老年人的抑郁、孤独和躁动。这种好处必须与该领域哲学家提出的可能存在的伦理问题进行对比，例如欺骗、幼稚化、减少人际接触和问责制。然而，直接评估相关利益相关者对这些问题的看法的研究仍然有限，尽管他们的观点在辩论中显然具有相关性。例如，伦理学家和利益相关者之间的任何差异本身可能就是一个相关的伦理考虑因素，而利益相关者感知到的问题可能会识别出成功实施的直接障碍。
我们在展览会上对 67 名年轻成年人进行了调查，他们在展览会上与陪伴机器人宠物进行了现场互动，包括老年人的亲密关系背景。我们询问了他们对伦理问题的看法。参与者通常有年长的家庭成员，有些患有痴呆症。
大多数参与者（67 人中有 40 人，60%）在接受开放式问题调查时表示，他们对使用陪伴机器人没有任何伦理问题。20 人（30%）表示有些担忧，最常见的是人际接触减少（10%），其次是欺骗（6%）。然而，当从列表中选择时，被认为最令人担忧的问题是基于社会经济因素获得设备的机会均等（在 1-7 的量表上为 4.72），超过了更常见的假设问题，如幼稚化（m=3.45）和欺骗（m=3.44）。得分最低的问题是潜在的伤害或伤害（m=2.38）和隐私问题（m=2.17）。超过一半（67 人中有 39 人（58%））会为年长的亲戚购买设备。成本是不购买设备的常见原因。
尽管这是一项相对较小的研究，但我们证明了哲学文献中提出的伦理问题与决定购买陪伴机器人的问题之间存在差异。这种差异，在哲学家和老年人护理的“最终用户”之间，以及在确定方法方面，值得进一步进行实证研究和讨论。我们的参与者更关心经济问题和平等获得机会，这是与老年人护理有关的重要考虑因素。另一方面，伦理学家提出的担忧似乎不太可能成为使用陪伴机器人的障碍。
