[omegaman]

http://theweek.com/article/index/229...ts-dying-alone

[kevin]

That's actualy a fairly interesting piece and I'm interested in the idea behind why the developer of it did so.

I'm not sure at this moment in my life I would be able to say that I wanted a robot to be there if no human could, but if I was old and dying and completely alone...............would something be better than nothing in the final moments of my life?

Like they say in the article. I don't know.

[omegaman]

Yes, It grabbed my attention and made me curious. I think it could be the prelude to robotic carers in hospitals and nursing homes etc.

[kevin]

I definitely have concerns that if we can technologise and dehumanise something then we probably will give it a shot.

[omegaman]

Originally Posted by kevin

I definitely have concerns that if we can technologise and dehumanise something then we probably will give it a shot.

True. But in this case the robot will remain with the patient until its job is done. Unlike a real person, who for a variety of reasons, will at some point not be there, maybe at the most crucial point in time.

[kevin]

But that suggests anthropomorphizing the machine and equating it to being a 'someone' and not a 'something' because it talks and strokes your hand. It's just doing what it's programmed to do.

To me, the person is still in actuality dying alone. The machine is not a person. But..........would the perception of it be different for a truly dying person?

[Roysten]

Is certainly an interesting idea, not something I'm sure I'd want to have for my last moments, still as the article questions, is it better than having no one? I'm honestly not sure. Think I'd prefer music.

[kevin]

It sounds horrible but there are so many ways to die that I don't even know if such a technology could be used for all patients. I haven't yet had a lot of experience with people dying but in the circumstances I have been, one died completely alone at home in the middle of the night, and another died in hospital after a week in a coma. There was no real sign they were aware of anything happening around them in their final days. A third with their family around them and maybe they had some sense of what was happening to them as it did.

I don't know. Sometimes I think these things are invented or mooted to help the people who can't be there to feel that somehow something has been done. It opens up a lot of questions about how people deal with death. Which seemed to be his point in doing so.

[omegaman]

Originally Posted by Roysten

Is certainly an interesting idea, not something I'm sure I'd want to have for my last moments, still as the article questions, is it better than having no one? I'm honestly not sure. Think I'd prefer music.

Something similar to Edward G Robinson's death in Soylent green?

[samwiseb]

There was a story several years back about a hospice 'cat of death' that would seek out and cuddle up with patients who were about to go. Apparently it would sniff them and be able to sense when their vitals were turning toxic. This was a big deal because hospice staff could then notify the loved ones when a patient was about to die.

I'd rather a cat than a robot any day.