“You cannot be trusted with your own survival”: Robotics in the future of healthcare and why V.I.K.I. from I, Robot was right.

In a different use, US companies like Xenex provide robots that sterilize clinical environments to a much higher standard than traditional manual disinfection. Other companies, such as Aethon, produce robots that perform low-skilled tasks like transporting laboratory samples, linens, and waste around the hospital, allowing staff to redirect their time to patient care.

Integrating humanoid robots in healthcare

In some healthcare settings, humanoid robots are used to care directly for patients. Japan faces a shortage of care staff to look after its aging population. The robot ‘Nurse Bear,’ created by Riken and Sumitomo Riko Labs in Japan, can transfer, lift, and reposition patients with restricted mobility. One obvious challenge for caregiving robots is providing empathy and compassionate care, which is often the most impactful aspect of patient experience. Humanoid robot ‘Pepper,’ described by its makers Softbank Robotics as ‘outgoing and charming,’ assists in hospitals by welcoming patients, giving directions, and answering basic questions. It is specifically designed to be a calming presence in anxiety-inducing environments such as hospitals. In Sweden, Pepper provided a fun distraction for paediatric cancer patients, whereas French hospitals used Pepper to allow quarantined COVID-19 patients to video chat with their relatives and in Germany, Pepper is used to chat with Alzheimer’s patients.

Regulating Robots

Where robots interact with humans, especially within the sensitivities and complexities of the healthcare sector, the use of robotics must be regulated in order to protect patients from harm. There is no specific ‘robot law’ governing the design, market, and use of robotics. 

In the UK, the legal framework used to regulate robots is based on existing laws which regulate data protection compliance and medical device regulation. There are also more subtle mechanisms of regulation such as the code or ‘architecture’ which define what the robots themselves can and cannot do thereby ensuring compliance with social norms. 

Surgical robots which are classified as medical devices are relatively straightforward to regulate, as they are treated similarly to scalpels or staples. However, regulating humanoid robots with a higher degree of interaction with patients, such as Pepper or Nurse Bear, is more complex. Their roles involve processing personal health data and prompting emotional responses from humans. The first consideration should be around the use and protection of data received by the robot to ensure compliance with data protection, especially given the sensitive nature of health data.