Is There a Need for Robotics in Elder Care?

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There are a lot of narratives around robots being central to how we address this demographic crisis. They range from corporate visions reflecting their desire for profit to more progressive visions of highly automated societies where human labor is far less necessary. What does your research tell us about those narratives and what responding to, you know, demographic aging will actually require? I think it's really important to focus on the specific context," she says.

Paris Marx is joined by James Wright to discuss Japan’s efforts to develop robots to care for its growing elderly population, what the government hoped to achieve with that plan, and why it hasn’t worked out as planned.

James Wright is a research associate with Turning Institute and a visiting lecturer at Queen Mary University of London. He’s also the author of Robots Won’t Save Japan. You can follow James on Twitter at @jms_wright.

Tech Won’t Save Us offers a critical perspective on tech, its worldview, and wider society with the goal of inspiring people to demand better tech and a better world. Follow the podcast (@techwontsaveus) and host Paris Marx (@parismarx) on Twitter, and support the show on Patreon.

The podcast is produced by Eric Wickham and part of the Harbinger Media Network.

Also mentioned in this episode:

Paris is visiting New Zealand and doing a number of events through the latter half of March. Find all the dates and details here.
James wrote about Japan’s efforts to automate elder care for MIT Tech Review.
Jennifer Robertson spoke about the gendering of robots to cement conservative gender norms.

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