How can humanoid artificial intelligence robots hold the key to the aging population?!
Japan is the most advanced aging society in the world with a declining birth rate, a shrinking working-age population, and restrictive immigration policies.
Its "baby boomer" generation, a swelling cohort created by a postwar baby boom from 1947 to 1949, all turned at least 75 years old by the end of 2024, exacerbating a severe shortage of eldercare workers.
The number of babies born in 2024 fell for the ninth straight year, down 5% to a record low of 720,988, data from Japan's health ministry showed on Thursday. Meanwhile, the nursing sector is struggling to fill jobs.
It had just one applicant for every 4.25 available jobs in December, far worse than the overall jobs-to-applicants ratio of 1.22, according to government data.
While the government looks overseas to help fill the gap, the number of foreign workers in the sector has increased over the years, but only stood at about 57,000 in 2023, or less than 3% of the total workforce in the field.
At a facility in Tokyo, a doll-sized, insect-eyed robot assists a care worker by singing pop songs and leading the elderly in simple exercise, while human caregivers diligently tend to other pressing tasks.
One of the most practical uses of nursing care technologies currently is as sleep sensors placed under residents' mattresses to monitor their sleeping conditions, reducing the number of people making rounds during the night.
Although humanoid robots like Tesla's Optimus are being developed for the near future, robots that can physically interact with humans require next-level precision and intelligence.
Humanoid robots are being developed around the world, but they rarely come into direct contact with humans. They simply do household chores or some tasks on factory floors.
Sugano's AIREC robot is able to help a person sit or put on socks, cook scrambled eggs, fold laundry, and several other useful tasks around the house.
But experts don't expect AIREC to be ready for use in nursing care and medical facilities until around 2030, and with a high price tag of no less than 10 million yen ($67,000) initially.
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