Chatty Robot Uses AI to Help Seniors Fight Loneliness

Deanna Dezern, 83, prompts her ElliQ, left, a tabletop device that uses artificial intelligence to conduct human-like conversations, to speak to visiting journalists, inside her home in Tamarac, Florida, Dec. 7, 2023. Joyce Loazia poses for a photo next to ElliQ, left, a tabletop device that uses artificial intelligence to conduct human-like conversations, during an interview in her apartment in Coral Springs, Florida, Dec. 5, 2023. Deanna Dezern, 83, interacts with her ElliQ, a tabletop device that uses artificial intelligence to conduct human-like conversations, inside her home in Tamarac, Florida, Dec. 7, 2023.

Joyce Loaiza lives alone, but when she returns to her apartment at a Florida senior community, the retired office worker often has a chat with a friendly female voice that asks about her day.