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The perception of feeling lonely is an influential factor in determining quality of life among aging adults. As the US Census Bureau projects that the number of Americans ages 65 and older will double by , reducing loneliness is imperative.
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Personal voice assistants PVAs such as Amazon's Echo offer the ease-of-use of voice control with a friendly, helpful artificial intelligence. This study aimed to understand the influence of a PVA on loneliness reduction among adults of advanced ages, i. Surveys were used to collect information about perceived loneliness, and PVA interaction data was recorded and analyzed. Participants consistently exceeded the required daily interactions. Relational greetings predicted loneliness reductions in the first 4 weeks and baseline loneliness predicted relational greetings with the PVA during the entire 8 weeks, suggesting that anthropomorphization of PVAs may play a role in mitigating loneliness in aging adults.
Keywords: loneliness, aging, gerontology, personal voice assistant, anthropomorphism, artificial intelligence, Amazon Alexa, conversational agent. One of the most influential factors in determining quality of life among aging adults is the perception of feeling lonely 1 , 2.
Loneliness refers to perceived isolation or the sense of lacking companionship, and the negative feelings that can arise from not having a companion or emotional support, or a perceived lack of wider social networks 3 β 5. The experience of loneliness has been associated with reduced opportunities for companionship, with older adults experiencing consequential social and emotional loneliness 6. Higher rates of depression, self-harm, self-neglecting behavior and mortality, as well as predictions of functional decline and death, have been associated with perceived loneliness 4 , 7 β 9.
