“Pepper, a ‘culturally competent robot,’ was tested on care home residents in Britain and Japan — those persons who used it for up to 18 hours over the course of two weeks saw an improvement in their mental (精神上的) health,” researchers found.
Pepper was part of a large global study known as CARESSES, which investigated the use of artificial intelligence (A) in caring for the elderly. The scientists behind the study also found that “after two weeks of using the system there was a small but positive effect on loneliness among users.”
Pepper is fully autonomous, meaning that it is not controlled by a person. Pepper, which can play music and entertainment, does not just ask and answer questions but can actually join in and continue conversation.
It has been designed to be “culturally competent,” meaning that it can respond to the culture-specific needs of older people.
Dr. Chris, principal lecturer in public health at the UK’s University of Bedfordshire, was the lead author of the three-year project. He described the study as “groundbreaking.” adding: “The results show that using the CARESSES artificial intelligence in robots such as Pepper has real potential (潜在的) benefit to a world where more people are living longer with fewer people to look after them.”
“The project has now shown that the system could and did improve mental health and reduce loneliness,” Dr. Chris said. “However, it is just at a prototype (最初形态) level and there are many technical limitations.”
He thought it would take a further two to three years of research, before robots such as Pepper could actually be introduced to care homes.
“We really believe that this isn’t about replacing care — a robot can’t do what a human can do. But they can be a useful helper for people’s mental health,” Dr. Chris said.
【小题1】According to Paragraph 1 and 2, what can Pepper do, especially for the elderly?| A．It can test them. |
| B．It can investigate them. |
| C．It can promote their mental health. |
| D．It can help them live much longer. |
| A．Pepper has been globally sold and used. |
| B．Pepper is of some help to the elderly. |
| C．Pepper has not any technical limitation. |
| D．Pepper can replace human to care for the elderly. |
| A．He worries about it. | B．He is uncertain of it. |
| C．He pays no attention to it. | D．He feels hopeful for it. |
| A．Science. | B．Education. | C．Travel. | D．Sports. |
