Social isolation and loneliness are ongoing threats to health made worse by the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. During the pandemic, half the globe's population have been placed under strict physical distancing orders and many long-term care facilities serving older adults went into lockdown mode, restricting access to all visitors, including family members. Before the pandemic emerged, a 2020 National Academy of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine report warned of the underappreciated adverse effects of social isolation and loneliness on health, especially among older populations. Social isolation and loneliness predict all-cause mortality at rates that rival clinical risk factors, such as obesity and smoking; they are associated with greater incidence of psychological, cognitive, and physical morbidities. This paper sets forth a proposal to design robots to function as companions and friends for socially isolated and lonely older people during pandemic emergencies and in aging societies more generally. “The proposal” section presents and defends the proposal. The “Replies to objections” section answers objections based on coercive design, replacement of humans with robots, privacy incursions, and counterfeit companionship. The “Conclusion” section submits that sociable robots offer a promising avenue for addressing social isolation and loneliness during pandemics and hold promise for aging societies more broadly.

中文翻译：

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我是你的朋友：全球流行病时代老年人的社交机器人。


社会孤立和孤独是对健康的持续威胁，2019 年冠状病毒病 (COVID-19) 大流行使情况变得更加严重。在大流行期间，全球一半的人口受到严格的身体距离命令，许多为老年人提供服务的长期护理机构进入封锁模式，限制包括家庭成员在内的所有访客的进入。在大流行出现之前，美国国家科学、工程和医学研究院 2020 年的一份报告警告说，社会隔离和孤独对健康的不利影响被低估，尤其是对老年人群。社会隔离和孤独感预测的全因死亡率与肥胖和吸烟等临床风险因素相当。它们与心理、认知和身体疾病的发生率更高有关。本文提出了一项建议，即设计机器人，使其在流行病紧急情况和更广泛的老龄化社会中为社会孤立和孤独的老年人充当同伴和朋友。 “提案”部分介绍并捍卫提案。 “对反对意见的答复”部分回答了基于强制设计、用机器人取代人类、侵犯隐私和伪造陪伴的反对意见。 “结论”部分认为，社交机器人为解决大流行期间的社会孤立和孤独感提供了一条有前途的途径，并为更广泛的老龄化社会带来了希望。