AI plus

dewaltdisney · Post by **dewaltdisney** » Sat Oct 05, 2024 11:10 am

Following in from Argyll's AI thread I thought I would share this. My mum had gone down the dementia pathway before she passed in January. It occurred to me that something as simple as an Amazon Echo could be enhanced to provide companionship for dementia sufferers as this falls to the hard-working carers at present. It would be fairly easy to create a conversational algorithm and movement detected by the camera could activate this. It could also alert carers if the person had got up and was moving at night. Most conversations can be repetitive and the AI could easily handle this. I wrote to the Alzheimers Association but they fobbed me off somewhat in the usual legal implications b*llocks. Does anyone know how I can contact Google or Amazon to make a business suggestion, I could only find links to chatbot screeners. I think this is such an easy win to help improve people's lives suffering from this cruel condition.

DWD

Argyll · Post by **Argyll** » Sat Oct 05, 2024 11:21 am

Good luck trying to get a real person at Amazon.

Someone-Else · Post by **Someone-Else** » Sat Oct 05, 2024 4:40 pm

dewaltdisney wrote: ↑Sat Oct 05, 2024 11:10 amDoes anyone know how I can contact Google or Amazon to make a business suggestion

Sorry to say but don't you think if it was as easy / legal as you seem to think it is, they would have done that by now.

I am NOT saying it's a bad idea, just if they could. They would. (My device often gives answers to questions I did not ask.)

dewaltdisney · Post by **dewaltdisney** » Sat Oct 05, 2024 4:59 pm

If you knew anyone going down the dementia pathway you would see how valuable a device like this could be. Because the short-term memory goes first there is a tendency to repeat the same questions over and over. You also have to watch fluid intake and a simple Do you want a cup of tea or Do you need the loo could be timed responses. I could write the program from my experience. The device could read stories, play music, and have a pseudo conversation. I would think it would also benefit the old and lonely too. As for legality, the next of kin could agree to the service before initiation. I have written to a contact in the US to see if they can help. I will update in due course.

DWD

Someone-Else · Post by **Someone-Else** » Sat Oct 05, 2024 5:49 pm

I really do wish you luck.
Person I know has dementia, and they have 3 "Alexa's" the husband tells me, that his wife is "frightened" of it and will not talk to it. She was ok at first, but made him change its name, and now she just will not speak to it.

dewaltdisney · Post by **dewaltdisney** » Sun Oct 06, 2024 8:43 am

Well, I did not envisage a unit as simple as an Echo. I was thinking that the unit would permit any name as a driver, so it could appear to be their carer talking to them from another room. Most issues are surmountable. You analyse common dementia traits and counter them, all basic stuff in system design.

DWD