A mural that represents Samsui women in Chinatown in Singapore.
Edwin Koo | Getty images
From listening devices that detect fall to the “patient caregivers” systems in hospitals and robots that help with the exercise of care homes, Singapore is looking for artificial intelligence to help handle the health of its elderly population.
By 2030, a quarter of the Singapurenses will be 65 years or older, in 2010, the figure was one in 10, and it is estimated that around 6,000 nurses and care personnel must be hired annually to meet the objectives of the Singapore health workforce.
Technology is very necessary to help fill the attention gap in Singapore and elsewhere, according to Chuan de Foo, researcher at the Swee Hock Swee Hock Public Health School. Societies around the world are not “little prepared” for aging of the population, Foo wrote in the journal Science Journal last month, and with their co -authors described the AI and other technologies such as “fundamental forces with the potential to promote a paradigm shift in medical care.”
For Foo, artificial intelligence will play a “huge” role in the care of nursing home in Singapore, both in terms of helping doctors to administer non -acute conditions and to supervise administrative tasks, such as monitoring the availability of hospital beds, he said in an email to CNBC. “As the elderly in Singapore get more experts in IT, we see them resort to teleconsultations and digital tools that use AI technology,” he said.
The AI is also being used to detect diseases before, an area of personal interest for Dr. Han Ei Chew, researcher at the Lee Kuan Yew Public Policy School in Singapore. He said that the diabetic ocular disease of his late mother could have been diagnosed and treated before if the test methods would have been available when she was alive, as they are now. “That would have been so useful when the family was going through that trip,” Chew told CNBC by phone.
A great approach to Singapore is “aging instead,” according to Chew. “We can implement the AI, but it is not about completely replacing human care … It is really about helping caregivers and helping older people to stay independent and instead,” CNBC told CNBC through videocyclets.
Chew said that the Singapore Housing and Development Board even offers built -in home technology to detect when someone falls, with an alert sent to relatives of a resident or connected to a call center to receive help.
These types of monitoring technology should be used carefully, said Chew, in any jurisdiction that are implemented. “AI should empower older adults and not take them out of control. They still need to have the option to opt for limits and, more importantly, to turn it off whenever they want,” he told CNBC.
A 'co-pyoto' of care
Not only Singapore is looking to use AI for the care of the elderly. In the United States, Sensi.AI is a “rapidly growing” co -pilot “that monitors older people who use audio devices who are generally connected to three areas of their homes.
The co -founder and CEO of the company, Romi Gubes, said that technology can provide caregivers more than 100 different ideas, alerting them on the early signs of urinary infections or respiratory infections, or on falls or cognitive decline. “We are combining multiple indicators that come from the audio,” Gubs told CNBC by video calls. “Think of, for example, a respiratory infection. This [take into account] The cadence of cough, the frequency, the type of cough, along with … complaints around fever, dizziness, “he said.
When Sensi.AI is installed in a home, creates a “baseline” for two weeks, pointing out a range of “acoustic indicators,” said Gubes, including nonverbal sounds such as moved objects, steps or snoring, which combines with the clinical knowledge of its equipment. Once the AI knows the reference sounds in a home, you can alert the caregivers of any audio anomaly that can suggest a health problem.
Gubes said Sensi is being used by “tens of thousands” of the elderly in the United States and a spokesman said the company is in discussions about a possible expansion in Asia.
Ageism in Ia
The experts spoken by CNBC warned that AI should be used carefully when it comes to medical care for older people.
Foo warned that excessive use of AI in consultations could lead to “poorest health results”, since not all older people can use technology, and warned that it must be designed correctly to avoid “perpetuating digital ageism.” In fact, the World Health Organization warned: “The implicit and explicit biases of society, even around age, are often replicated in AI technologies,” and their 2022 policy report urged developers to which older people participate in the design of new technologies.
In Singapore, the “Action Plan for Successful Aging” of the Government details its objectives, such as reaching 550,000 older people with a health and well -being program and reducing hospital deaths from 61% to 51% between 2023 and 2028.
But Foo said the opinions of the elderly should be taken into account when determining how AI can address their health needs. “Like all new initiatives, failure will be inevitable if the target audience, that is, the elderly, we are not on board. [need] Listen to their voices and adapt the national health strategy to meet their needs without not eliminating the human element of medical care. That is the challenge, “he told CNBC by email.
For Chew, the nursing home approach will need to combine humans and machines, describing it as “high technology, but touches.” “AI is probably better used as an additional set of eyes, ears and robots [are an] Additional hands, but not as a replacement for high -touch human attention, “he said.
