China orders trial of aged care robots that can cook, clean, and provide emotional support

Elon Musk suggested this to Beijing years ago

China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology has ordered extensive trials of intelligent aged care robots.

The Ministry’s announcement notes that China’s population is ageing, and families are therefore increasingly called on to care for their elders due to a shortage of aged care workers.

Beijing wants to know if robots can help, so it has called for applicants to participate in trials of mechanized carers.

The Ministry wants organizations capable of building at least 200 bots and trialing them in 20 locations. Applicants need to be Chinese companies with aged care experience, plus clean credit, environmental, and safety records.

A separate document outlines the scenarios Beijing wants bots to master, including cooking and cleaning, helping people to walk outside and over varied terrain without falling, and lifting the elderly when needed.

Robots that can help people to toilet also make the list, as do machines that can feed those unable to do so themselves.

Beijing also wants robots that can detect early signs of dementia. For those already experiencing the disorder, the Ministry wants machines with “anti-wandering and anti-falling” abilities.

Your plastic pal who’s fun to be with

Another scenario the Ministry wants to explore is an “Intelligent communication companion service robot” that conducts personalized conversations in several Chinese dialects and reads books or newspapers. The ability to conduct video calls is also desirable, as satisfying the elderly’s psychological needs by relieving loneliness.

The docs don’t mention humanoid robots, but the suggested scenarios do mention an ability to substitute for a pet.

The Ministry will require successful applicants to conduct a trial within two years of approval to participate in the project.

China is not alone in pursuing this idea, which Japan has explored to address its own ageing population and worker shortages.

Nor is the idea novel in China itself: Elon Musk suggested robot aides for the elderly in a 2022 article he contributed to the Cyberspace Administration of China's flagship magazine.

Chinese media and pundits expressed enthusiasm at the prospect of pre-DOGE Musk writing for a local audience and the story was warmly received — more than the billionaire currently gets in Washington this week after his messy breakup with Donald Trump. ®