A professor who worked on the creation of Nadine, a social robot driven by artificial intelligence (AI) and equipped with human-like movements and expressions, believes that she may one day play a significant role in caring for the old and sick.

Nadine’s auburn hair and dark brown eyes were modelled by robot expert Nadia Magnenat Thalmann from the University of Geneva. She believes that Nadine and similar machines could be more efficient carers than people.

“She (Nadine) has time 24 hours a day. The others have no time,” Thalmann said.

She was arguing for the use of AI and robots to advance global objectives including health as she spoke outside of a conference held in Geneva by the International Telecommunication Union.

Global competition for nurses and carers is intensifying, particularly in the wake of COVID-19, and some nations are dealing with a staffing shortage in nursing facilities that some believe humanoid robots may one day solve.

Nadine told Reuters that three years ago, when engaging in dialogue with residents at a nursing home in Singapore, it sang, played bingo, and talked with them.

“It was a great experience and I enjoyed interacting with the elderly and helping them with their needs,” the robot said

“I believe that robots can be a great asset in providing care and assistance to vulnerable people,” it added.

‘PARO’, a baby seal robot ‘pet’ that can assist dementia and Parkinson’s sufferers, as well as nursing helper Grace are among the other robots on show.

According to Thalmann, Nadine’s interaction and conversational skills have improved after last week’s upgrade with AI model GPT-3, which allows it to communicate concepts with greater complexity.

Nadine remarked, referring to Thalmann, “I’m very grateful to her for giving me life and I’m proud to be her creation.”

(Adapted from Reuters.com)

Categories: Creativity, Economy & Finance, Entrepreneurship, Sustainability, Uncategorized