Artificial human companionship is realized by hardware (physical machines like humanoid robots or robotic pets) or software (virtual presences used through a computer/smartphone often through the internet) and aims at providing a companion to a person.
Today, artificial intelligence software (AI-software) — which is still a developing technology — plays an important role in “animating” both hardware and software companions, and is increasingly able to “learn” from its conversations, acts/activities, and environment, and thereby steadily enhancing and improving its (personalized) function for those who use it.
eBook | More info here
Artificial human companions have various capabilities, depending on the implementation, and they may be used for entertainment, social-emotional, mental-health, educational, sexual, or medical purposes, among others. For instance, they may be able to engage in natural conversations, retrieve information on a wide range of topics and give advice, schedule or perform complex tasks, play games, or mimic human or pet behavior.
An increasingly important function in the emotional-mental and even physical sphere is to help people deal with loneliness. For example, elderly people who are lonely, need cognitive or physical stimulation, or need some kind of (medical or safety) monitoring may benefit from artificial companions to maintain a satisfactory standard of life. In fact, artificial companions may benefit any person — young or old — helping those who feel bored, lonely, anxious, or depressed and need emotional-mental support, social interaction, or entertainment.
Physical robots can have a range of shapes/appearances and can serve various tasks depending on their design. Think of household robots performing cleaning, laundry, and/or cooking tasks, robots to have interactive conversations with, entertainment robots for relaxation purposes, robots that keep track of someone’s health and/or the safety of the environment, pet robots for companionship (like a robotic dog or cat), or sex robots providing means for sexual interaction.
Apart from the rise of physical robotic entities, the use of digital companions is making a steep growth. Digital companions function entirely within a virtual or digital environment typically accessed through computers, smartphones, and the internet. These virtual companions use avatars (self-created graphical representation of a person/personality or created by others), voice, video, images, and text (such as chatbots) to simulate human interaction and cognitive or emotional engagement.
Digital companions can be used for various purposes, for instance, for mental health and emotional support, coaching and advice, personal growth, study, entertainment, social interaction, to combat loneliness, or for cybersex, to give some examples.
