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Voice of Experience

Voice of Experience: January 2025

Artificial Intelligence-Driven Pets Can Facilitate Good Mental Health

Jeffrey M Allen and Ashley Hallene

Summary

  • AI-driven robotic pets can provide comfort and companionship, particularly for the elderly and those with disabilities.
  • The rapid evolution of robotic dogs with advanced AI, makes them more interactive and capable of performing various tasks.
  • The growth and the anticipated increased integration of robotic pets into individual lives require addressing important ethical considerations like data privacy and the potential impact on human interaction.
Artificial Intelligence-Driven Pets Can Facilitate Good Mental Health
istock.com/miriam-doerr

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Artificial Intelligence has played an increasingly significant role in our lives, helping us in many ways. AI now plays a big role in health care, mental health care and mental health wellness. In this article, we will explore the elevation of the role of AI in helping prevent and treat mental health issues through the modality of robotic pets.

For thousands of years, pets have offered companionship, assistance, comfort, joy, unconditional love, and unwavering loyalty to humans. More recently, we have recognized that pets can significantly impact our mental health in addition to providing companionship and help at work. Humans and animals formed symbiotic partnerships. Over the centuries, that bond evolved into a strong emotional connection built on mutual affection and support. Interaction with animals can elicit a neurochemical response in humans, releasing oxytocin (the “love hormone”). This response fosters feelings of happiness, security, and calm, laying the foundation for pets as mental health facilitators.

Emotional Support and Companionship

Pets can offer unconditional love and companionship to individuals grappling with feelings of loneliness, depression, or anxiety. Caring for a pet can instill a sense of purpose and routine and may benefit those struggling to find structure in their daily lives. A pet can alleviate feelings of isolation, creating a sense of connection vital for mental well-being.

Stress Reduction

Interacting with pets can reduce stress and anxiety levels. Petting a dog or cat (or other pet) can trigger the release of serotonin and dopamine, neurotransmitters that play a crucial role in mood regulation. The rhythmic nature of stroking a pet, the tactile comfort of their fur, and the nonjudgmental companionship they offer can create a therapeutic environment conducive to stress relief.

Underscoring this concept, authorities often bring therapy dogs into high-stress environments such as hospitals, schools, and disaster zones to offer comfort and emotional support. In schools, therapy dogs have reduced anxiety in students, improving their focus and overall well-being. In hospitals, patients may experience lower levels of pain and stress during recovery when visited by therapy animals. A study published in Stress and Health found that people who spent 15 minutes interacting with a therapy dog had significantly lower cortisol levels, a stress-related hormone. Odendaal, J. S. J. (2000). Animal-assisted therapy—Magic or medicine? Stress and Health, 16(4), 261-270.

Encouraging Physical Activity

Pets, particularly dogs, require regular exercise, encouraging their owners to engage in physical activity. Physical exercise is a well-established method for improving mental health, as it promotes the release of endorphins—natural mood lifters. Walking, running, or playing with a pet benefits physical health and provides opportunities for social interaction, fresh air, and a break from the routine, which contribute positively to mental well-being.

A Human-Animal Bond Research Institute (HABRI) survey revealed that dog owners are more likely to meet physical activity guidelines than non-pet owners.

Pets in Therapeutic Settings

The therapeutic potential of pets extends beyond the home into clinical settings. Animal-assisted therapy (AAT) is a growing field that leverages the unique qualities of animals to aid in the treatment of various mental health conditions. Trained therapy animals, such as dogs, horses, and even dolphins, assist individuals in managing disorders like PTSD, autism, and depression. These animals can create a soothing environment that facilitates communication, emotional expression, and healing.

With Great Joy Comes Great Responsibility!

With acknowledgment to Voltaire and Peter Parker’s Uncle Ben (Spiderman), remember that owning a real-life pet brings joy and responsibility. Pets require time and effort. They have their own companionship, entertainment, food, and exercise needs. As a pet parent, those responsibilities fall upon you. Like almost everything else, you can find technology to help you with your real-life pets. The range of technology products in this category includes automatic feeders, remote cameras to monitor pets and even allow you to interact with them remotely, devices that help you monitor your pet’s location, implanted chips to help people identify your pet as yours, electronic toys to entertain your pets, wearables to help you monitor your pet’s health, and automated litter boxes to make cleaning up after your cat easier. Expect to see more shortly.

Enter the AI-Driven Pet

While nothing will ever equal the joy, comfort, unconditional love, or entertainment value of a real-life pet, some people find caring for a pet overwhelming. Some cannot even take care of themselves without help. While they would benefit from the companionship of a pet, they cannot care for one. Additionally, many people do not live in a location that allows them to have a dog or a cat. Technology has an answer for that as well. Robotic pets cannot entirely replicate the emotional bond formed with living animals. However, they can provide considerable comfort to individuals, particularly the elderly and those with disabilities. The tactile feedback, combined with AI-driven responses, can simulate a sense of companionship and emotional support.

Robotic pets may prove a good compromise for those who cannot have a real live animal for a pet. Robotic pets do not give you the same interaction as a natural animal but do not require daily feeding, exercise, and care. Nor do they run up large and expensive veterinary bills by getting sick or injured. They do not chew your shoes, steal your clothing, or try to snag your lunch off the table. They can provide a type of companionship, however. Because of the introduction of AI to robotic pets, the scope and depth of that companionship show a dramatic increase.

Historically, when we talked about robotic pets, we meant plastic devices that wobbled around and maybe walked and bounced, wagged their tails, perhaps moved their ears, opened their mouth, and said, “Arf.” With due respect to cat lovers, most robotic pets, historically and presently, have been of the pseudo-canine variety. As most species have Latin names, we have labeled the robot dog as robotum canini.  Nobody would mistake a robotum canini for a natural dog. Robotum canini had little ability to engage with people interactively. They did not provide the benefits humans have derived from interacting with pets.

As happens with most species over time, robotum canini evolved. Unlike the evolution of natural species, which may take thousands of years or even much longer, the robotic nature of robotum canini allowed a far more rapid evolution. AI evolved dramatically with ChatGPT and Generative AI (GenAI). That allowed robotum canini to interact much better with humans and to even speak to them using various human languages. Robotum canini proved much better at learning to communicate with humans using human languages in a few months than humans have learned about communicating in dog speak in thousands of years.

Several of the robotum canini currently on the market have enough AI infused into their DNA that they can speak human languages, search the Internet for information, monitor live pets, guard your house (video surveillance only), play games, do tricks, and interact with children providing an educational functionality. The robotum canini we have seen, which come with upgraded intelligence and interactivity, continue to arrive in a hard plastic shell. Our current favorite in this generation, Loona, costs $399, can do the above, and functions as a virtual assistant. Like a natural dog, she knows tricks and reflects what we can only interpret as happiness and excitement when you wake her up to play with her.

Natural intelligence (that’s us) figured out that people might react better to a robotum canini that looked like a natural dog than one with a hard plastic shell. We have seen the introduction of robotum canini which look like dogs. Tombot offers the best example of what we have seen. Their robotum canini, named “Jennie” looks very much like a natural golden retriever puppy. If you wondered, Jennie comes with a faux fur coat (no shedding). Unfortunately, the company stopped making the original Jennie and has focused on a new and improved Jennie. You can pre-order the new Jennie, but the company has announced no shipping dates. Hopefully, we will see it shipped in the not-too-distant future. The company has only spoken about new features, so we do not know how much AI it will incorporate into the DNA of Jennie 2. We hope that she will at least have the abilities of the current generation of robotum canini, such as Loona with the more life-like physical appearance of the original Jennie. We consider that a realistic expectation given that the projected price of Jennie 2 approximates $1,500 and that Tombot bills Jennie as a therapy dog designed to help “individuals, families, and communities cope with many health adversities.”

Future Developments and Ethical Considerations

Looking ahead, the future of robotic pets holds exciting possibilities. With advancements in AI, we can expect these companions to become even more lifelike and capable of forming deeper emotional connections with humans. However, this also raises important ethical considerations. As robotic pets become more intelligent, capable, and integrated into our lives, questions about data privacy, dependency, and the potential replacement of human interaction arise. Developers, policymakers, and users need to navigate these ethical challenges thoughtfully.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the emergence of AI-driven robotic pets marks a significant technological advancement that holds promise for companionship, education, and therapy. While they may never fully replace the unique bond shared with living pets, they offer undeniable potential benefits, particularly for those who cannot care for a natural pet. As technology continues to evolve, so will the capabilities and applications of these remarkable robotic companions.

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