Paper short abstract:

COVID-19 presents a grave danger to humanity. The deployment of AI and robotic devices might increase not only to support disease detection and diagnosis but also to assist with holistic care, healing practices, and social interactions to supplement the lack of contact during social distancing.

Paper long abstract:

Human society was not prepared for the COVID-19 outbreak, which has revealed vulnerabilities a globalized world faces regarding anthropogenic climate change and pandemics. While pandemics have been constant companions of biological life, as the world progresses further into the Anthropocene, multispecies pandemics might become increasingly common. Reassessing that there are reasons to believe that pandemics will occur more frequently, and that robots might play an important role during pandemics, is even more pressing, as increased population density and anthropogenic climate change are bound to increase contact between the anthroposphere and the virosphere. While the dangers of anthropogenic climate change have become clearer for most of us, COVID-19 presents an equivalent grave danger to humanity. Considering these circumstances, the deployment of AI and robotic devices might increase not only to support disease detection and diagnosis but also to assist with holistic care, healing practices, and social interactions to supplement the lack of contact during extended periods of social distancing. This concerns the realm of care and society at large.

Globally, exposure to social robots varies significantly. Japan is currently at the forefront of creating and using social robots for companionship, therapy, and care work. However, despite the Japanese government’s enthusiasm for robotic solutions, introducing social robots into the realm of care remains highly contentious. As such, we must actively address how digital technologies can improve our lives—remaining aware that if we are not careful, they have the potential to limit our capacity to maintain autonomous human relationships.