Robots, Aging Population and Pets
In a nursing home in Natori, Miyagi Prefecture, a Humanoid robot asks an elderly nursing resident in her 80s, “Grandma, what color flowers do you like?”. The woman responds, “Pink cherry blossoms”.
在宫城县名取市的一家养老院，一位人形机器人向80多岁的老年人询问到：”奶奶，你喜欢什么颜色的花？”。老奶奶回答说，”粉红色的樱花”。
This humanoid is the first of its kind to be used in a Japanese retirement home. It is developed by Hiroshi Ishiguro and his team of engineers from Osaka University. Since the use of this humanoid, nursing home staffers report less irritation, improved cognitive functions and improved mental health conditions from residents in this nursing home.
这个人形机器人是第一种在日本的养老院得到应用的人形机器人。它由Hiroshi Ishiguro和他所属的大阪大学工程师团队开发。自从使用了这种人形机器人以来，养老院的工作人员报告说，这家养老院的住户烦恼变得更少，认知功能和精神状况也都有所改善。
A Sapporo-based company Safety Net linkage is developing smartphone applications in conjunction with this humanoid to help to track down people with dementia. These applications will allow families and nursing home facilities to keep an eye on elderly residents in cases of missing persons.
总部位于札幌的Safety Net正在开发一个连接此款人形机器人的应用程序，它将被用于追踪患有老年痴呆症的病人。在人手不足时，这个应用程序可以帮助家人或者养老院人员关照到这些老年人。
These technological developments are just the beginning of how artificial intelligence and robotics are changing the way we manage our aging population.
这些技术进展只是人工智能和机器人技术如何帮助我们管理人口老龄化的一个开端。
Japan is leading the way in this area of Robotics simply out of a great need. Japan’s demographics are changing rapidly with the increased population of people aged 65 years or older. Currently, Japan’s aging population accounts for 26.7% of the total population.
由于存在着极大的需求，日本在机器人技术领域处于领先地位。随着65岁或65岁以上人口的增加，日本的人口结构正在迅速发生改变。目前，日本的老龄人口的比例为26.7％。
In 2050, the government projects, that the aging population will reach 40% of the total population. On top of that, Japan’s birth rates are declining year by year. This means that the total population of Japan could fall as much as 30% by the year 2050.
到2050年，政府预计老龄人口的数量将达到总人口的40%。更重要的是，日本的出生率还在逐年下降。这意味着到2050年时，日本的总人口可能会减少30％。
In order to make up the shortfall in the workforce to support the country, Japan has been steadily making headway in the area of Robotics. The latest innovations in developing robots for retirement homes is just the country’s latest effort at managing its extraordinary health care crisis.
为了减缓劳动力不足对国家发展的影响，日本在机器人领域一直有着稳定的发展。为养老院开发护理机器人这一创新举动，也只是这个国家在管理健康保健危机上取得的最新成果。
Necessity is the Mother of Inventions — Proverb
需要是发明之母——谚语
Japan is not the only country to have such a demographic shift. In many Asian countries such as Korea and China where birth rates are declining, the aging population will continue to grow to occupy more percentage of the total population in those countries in the years to come.
日本不是唯一有这种人口变化趋势的国家。在许多亚洲国家，比如韩国和中国，出生率也在下降。在未来若干年，老龄人口的数量将继续增加，其占国家总人口的比例也将进一步增大。
Even in the United States, per Census projections in 2017, by 2030, all baby boomers will be older than 65. The population of baby boomers will outnumber the population of children in the history of the United States. Eventhough birth rates in the United States are still increasing, the rapid aging of baby boomers will also result in a health care crisis that we will need to manage in our own backyard.
即使在美国，根据2017年的人口普查预测，到2030年时，所有婴儿潮一代都将超过65岁。到那时，婴儿潮一代的（老年）人口数量将超过儿童人口数量。尽管美国的出生率仍在上升，但婴儿潮一代的快速老龄化也将会为我们带来自身的医疗保健危机。
Meet Zora, the robot caregiver, is the latest caregiver at a nursing facility outside of Paris. This robot caregiver can cost up to $18,000, offers companionship to residents of this retirement facility. This robot leads exercises and plays games with residents. It has integrated well into the life of the retirement home that the residents developed human feelings for this robot. Many residents treat Zora like a human baby reporting missing Zora when she’s gone, holding, cooing and kissing Zora on the head.
Zora，是巴黎市郊一家养老院的最新机器人护理员。这个成本超过18000美元的机器人护理员将为养老院的住户们提供陪伴。这个机器人能够带领住户进行锻炼，并和他们互动玩游戏。它已经融入了养老院的生活，住户们和这个机器人之间也形成了类似于人与人的情感连接。许多住户对待Zora就像对待一个人类婴儿一样。当它不在的时候，他们会想它；当它出现的时候，他们抱它，亲它。
The emotional attachments formed with this particular robot caregiver is quite astounding.
与这些特殊的机器人护理形成的情感依恋是令人震惊的。
In the United States, several companies: Ageless Innovation, Tombot, Hasbro and Sony are marketing a slew of robotic companion pets to the loved ones of the elderly. “Paro”, a companion seal pup has shown to calm seniors. Aibo Robot Dog comes with internet connectivity and facial recognition. These robotic pets often cost thousands of dollars with advanced features.
美国的几家公司——Ageless Innovation，Tombot，Hasbro，Sony——正在向老年人推销一系列机器宠物伴侣。Paro，一种海豹幼崽形式的机器人伴侣，可以让老年人平静下来。Aibo Robot Dog，能够连接互联网，并进行面部识别。这些具有高级功能的宠物机器人通常需要花费数千美元才能获得。
On the more affordable end, Ageless Innovation’s Joy For All Companion pets mimics movements and sounds of real pets for around $100. The more affordable models of these robotic pets are popular with both the aging population as well as with kids. In recent years, there are buying guides on Youtube and product reviews on Amazon as the trend of robotic pets proliferate.
在消费领域的平民端，Ageless Innovation推出的Joy For All Companion可以模仿真实宠物的动作和声音，但是花费只需要约100美元左右。这些机器宠物越实惠，也就越受到老年人和孩子们的欢迎。近年来，随着机器宠物的流行，Youtube和亚马逊上出现了一些购买指南。
Can robotic pets replace real pets? Should robotic pets replace real pets?In a study conducted by the researchers from Purdue University and the University of Washington to evaluate the effectiveness of companionship offered by Sony robotic dog to children ages 7 to 15, the study concluded with findings suggesting caution in the assumption of using a robot pet as a substitute as a therapy animal.
机器宠物可以取代真正的宠物吗？机器宠物应该取代真正的宠物吗？在普渡大学和华盛顿大学的研究人员进行的一项研究中，研究人员评估了索尼机器狗为7至15岁的儿童提供的陪伴效果。该研究得出的结论表明，我们需要谨慎考虑能否使用机器宠物作为治疗动物的替代。
Although robot pets can alleviate loneliness for seniors in institutionalized settings, our relationship with these robot pets still needs to be studied. Robot pets still have great limitations as compared to a real four-legged friend.
虽然机器宠物可以机构化的环境中缓解老年人的孤独感，但我们仍然需要研究这些机器宠物与我们的关系。和真正的四条腿朋友相比，机器宠物仍然有很大的局限性。
For instance, the experience of human or animal touch is different from the experience of robot touch. Although robots can mimic empathetic behaviors, they are still just mimicking the behaviors. Real empathy in both pets and humans are the basis of real relationship building. It is this real empathy that serves as the foundation of a good caregiver for both children and the elderly.
例如，来自人或者宠物的触摸，和来自机器人的触摸是大不相同的。虽然机器人可以模仿共情行为，但它们也只是模仿而已。宠物和人类之间真实的共情是建立情感关系的基础。正是这种共情为照料老人和孩子奠定了基础。
Although technology has advanced enough to help us manage our aging population, we, as people, from an ethical point of view need to evaluate whether it’s necessary to replace human or pet interactions with robotic interactions. Perhaps, robots are here only to help us and to assist us to take care of our elderly and our children. Our elderly and our children still need our human interactions to make their lives as fulfilling as possible.
虽然技术已经足够先进，可以帮助我们管理人口老龄化问题，但是，我们作为人类，从道德的角度出发，有必要评估我们是否有必要使用机器人取代来自人和宠物的陪伴。或许，机器人只能用来帮助我们照顾老人和孩子。我们的老人和孩子仍然需要来自我们的陪伴，来充实他们的生活。
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