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In science fiction movies, we often see intelligent elderly care robots as loyal companions of humans, they can not only take care of the daily life of the elderly, but also provide emotional companionship. These images on the screen have inspired people's infinite reverie about the future intelligent elderly care robots. With the rapid development of science and technology, intelligent elderly care robots are no longer just a fantasy, they are gradually coming into reality and becoming a possible solution to the challenges of an aging society.
When we talk about pension robots, we will inevitably ask several key questions: do the first generation of machines really exist? Are they mature enough that ordinary families can afford them? What price will the pension robots of the future appear in front of us? These questions are not only related to the development of technology, but also involve economic, social and ethical aspects.
The expectations of the whole society for elderly care robots
With the intensification of the global population aging trend, the problem of pension is becoming increasingly prominent. Especially in some developed countries, the proportion of the elderly population continues to rise, and the demand for elderly care services has also increased. At the same time, the decline in fertility rates and the increasing pressure on young people to support them have challenged the traditional family pension model.
By the end of 2022, China's elderly population aged 60 and above reached 280.04 million, accounting for 19.8% of the total population, and the elderly population aged 65 and above reached 209.78 million, accounting for 14.9% of the total population14.
According to Wang Haidong, director of the Department of Aging of the National Health Commission, it is expected that during the "14th Five-Year Plan" period, that is, between 2021 and 2025, the total number of elderly people aged 60 and above will exceed 300 million, accounting for more than 20%, entering the stage of moderate aging. By around 2035, the number of elderly people aged 60 and above will exceed 400 million, accounting for more than 30% of the total population, entering the stage of severe aging2.
According to 2020 data, the dependency ratio of the elderly population is 19.7%, and it is expected to exceed 50% by 2050, meaning that every two young people will need to support one elderly person. Since entering an aging society in 2000, the proportion of the elderly population has increased by 8.4 percentage points, especially in the 10 years from 2010 to 2020, the proportion of the elderly population has increased by 5.4 percentage points, which is related to the population cohort formed by the birth peak in the 50s of the 20th century.
In this context, the emergence of intelligent elderly care robots is seen as a possible solution, which can assist or replace human caregivers and provide more professional and sustainable elderly care services.
The problem of social care workers is also an important factor in the demand for elderly care robots. Shortages, high work intensity, and uneven quality of care are driving the search for more efficient and reliable alternatives. Intelligent elderly care robots can solve these problems to a certain extent, they can work tirelessly, provide standardized care services, and at the same time, through data analysis, provide personalized health management for the elderly.
The country is also constantly exploring new pension models
In response to the severe challenge of population aging, the mainland has adopted a series of measures to support the development of the cause of aging. According to the 2022 National Communiqué on the Development of Ageing, the state has carried out in-depth work at multiple levels such as pension insurance, medical services, and social participation to ensure the well-being of the elderly.
The General Office of the State Council issued the "Opinions on Promoting the Development of Personal Pensions", aiming to develop a personal pension system suitable for China's national conditions. In addition, the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress deliberated the "Report of the State Council on Strengthening and Promoting the Progress of the Work for the Aged," comprehensively summed up the achievements made in the work for the aged, and put forward a work plan for the next step in view of the existing problems.
As of the end of 2022, the number of people participating in basic pension insurance nationwide reached 105307 million, demonstrating the effectiveness of the government in expanding the coverage of pension insurance. The continuous strengthening of the supply of health services for the elderly and the increase in the number of institutions integrating medical care and elderly care reflect the country's efforts to improve health services for the elderly.
The continuous enhancement of the supply capacity of elderly care services, the increase of community elderly care service institutions and facilities, and the expansion of elderly care beds are all to meet the diverse needs of the elderly. Secondly, all sectors of society have also made many efforts to create an age-friendly society, including the development of education and cultural and sports activities for the elderly, as well as solving the difficulties of the elderly in using smart technology.
Of course, from all aspects, the mainland is also constantly promoting the development process of pension robots. On January 19, 2023, 17 departments in mainland China jointly released the implementation plan for the "Robot +" application action. This shows that in the next period of time, the mainland will also be committed to the research and development of pension robots.
As an important part of the pension service system, the development trend and application prospect of pension robots have received extensive attention.
On the one hand, in terms of smart housing, intelligent housing solutions and intelligent services of home furnishing brands are becoming an important direction for the development of elderly care robots. Through smart home technology, it can provide a safer and more convenient living environment for the elderly. For example, the smart monitoring system can monitor the health and activity of the elderly in real time, and the smart lighting and temperature control system can automatically adjust the indoor environment according to the needs of the elderly.
On the other hand, rehabilitation nursing robots are another important branch of elderly care robots. These robots can help the elderly with daily activities such as walking, eating, dressing, etc., while also assisting in rehabilitation training. With the continuous progress of technology, the functions of rehabilitation nursing robots are becoming more and more diversified, and the degree of intelligence is also improving.
Further, there are more human aspects, such as providing personalized service and emotional companionship. Through artificial intelligence technology, elderly care robots can learn the living habits and preferences of the elderly and provide more personalized services. In addition, elderly care robots can also communicate emotionally with the elderly through voice interaction, emotion recognition and other technologies to alleviate their loneliness.
There are also elderly people who often have more medical needs than young people, so elderly care robots should have the ability of telemedicine. Provide more comprehensive health services for the elderly. Through the connection with the medical and health platform, the elderly care robot can monitor the health status of the elderly in real time, detect abnormalities in time and remind them to seek medical treatment. At the same time, elderly care robots can also assist doctors in remote diagnosis and treatment, improving the efficiency and quality of medical services.
However, at present, there are still many problems in realizing and popularizing pension robots.
Of course, the above is only our vision, for the current pension robot is still facing many problems. At least we are not mature enough in China, especially the technology is not yet able to fully support the elderly care robot. At present, the technology of pension robots has not yet fully matured. Especially in terms of emotional communication and personalized service, compared with human caregivers, there is still a lot of room for improvement in the intelligence of robots.
Also, the endurance and signal stability of the robot are critical to its reliability. In practical applications, robots need to be able to work stably for a long time and not be easily disturbed by environmental factors. The R&D and production costs of elderly care robots are relatively high, which leads to their high market price, which is unaffordable for most families. How to reduce costs and realize the popularization of elderly care robots is a major problem in the promotion and application.
The issue of cost is one of the most important issues in popularization. Judging from the current market of pension robots, the cheapest one is more than 50,000 yuan, and compared with foreign pension robots, it is still relatively cheap, the price of foreign pension robots is generally 100,000 yuan, and the function is more perfect, basically competent for simple medical aid, and disease monitoring functions.
As far as the above price is concerned, it is still quite unacceptable compared to us ordinary people, especially those with relatively ordinary economic conditions, who cannot afford it at all. At least now there are only a few people who can afford this kind of pension robot, and it cannot be popularized with the public. Just like the current electric car, the current price is still at a high level, and the price is not perfect enough, so on the whole, it cannot be popularized by the whole people.
However, this problem, whether it is technology or price, will always be broken step by step with the development of society, and it is only a matter of time before it will eventually become popular. Judging from the current AI technology in the mainland, the development belongs to the world's best, and it is not a problem to break through these technical bottlenecks.
Especially in 2024, as the first year of AI intelligence, it is not difficult to overcome the difficulty of elderly care robots in the era of Daxing Technology. It is believed that when the time comes, the elderly care robot can completely replace the children and become the companion of the elderly in their later years, becoming a new milestone in human society.
With the advancement of technology and the growth of social needs, the future development of elderly care robots is worth looking forward to.
Next, the state and society will continue to introduce relevant policies to support the research and development and application of elderly care robots. For example, provide R&D financial support, tax incentives, market access facilitation, etc., to promote the development of the elderly care robot industry. With the development of new technologies such as artificial intelligence, big data, Internet of Things, and 5G, it will provide more possibilities for the innovation of elderly care robots. Through the integration of technology, elderly care robots will become more intelligent, flexible and humane.
With the maturity of technology and the realization of large-scale production, the production cost of pension robots will gradually decrease. At the same time, the application of new materials and new processes will also help reduce costs. It is expected that in the future, the price of pension robots will be more affordable and civilian.
So the last question is, what do you think is the price of the pension robot, what do you think is the most reasonable? Welcome to leave a message to tell us your views!