What will our lives be in 100 years?

NARRATOR: It's Saturday night in the year 2100,

and you're at the quiz night in a care home.

The Saturday night quiz is serious business.

While the residents battle it out,

a team of carers quietly ensures the smooth running of the home.

Luna announces the questions.

Zach serves dinner and drinks,

and Qi-Young administers evening medications.

But Luna, Zach and Qi-Young aren't human.

They're robots.

And one day, they could be your retirement companions.

One in three people born today

will live until they're 100.

The world's population of over-60s

has doubled since 1980

to around a billion,

and it's projected to double again by 2050.

That's a lot of people who may one day need additional support

to live fulfilling and comfortable lives.

Assistive intelligent robots could relieve pressure

in understaffed care homes.

So what would being looked after by robots

actually feel like?

Imagine - you're woken up by your favourite song

played by a music robot.

Luna, a humanoid, is ready with your perfect brew,

milk and sugar selected with precision.

Luna helps you choose your outfit for your morning walk

and assists you into your exoskeleton,

an aid that gives you full control of your mobility.

You take a stroll around the gardens

with your human carer, Dan.

You choose your own route

and your exoskeleton responds to your subtle movements and commands,

which it picks up via smart wearables

so you're fully in control.

Along the way, you see robots maintaining

the beautifully manicured grounds,

alerting carers to any potential hazards.

You stop to chat to a friend,

and if your conversation is cut short,

a robot attendant will remember what you were talking about

and set up another time for you to chat.

When you return to your room,

it's been cleaned by a team of housekeeping robots.

Unburdened by time-consuming routine tasks,

your human carer Dan can take his time chatting to residents,

giving everyone his full attention.

You then enjoy a sumptuous communal breakfast

with the other residents and staff.

Bruno, the kitchen robot, serves up a feast

customised to your personal dietary requirements, allergies,

and he doesn't forget that you hate mushrooms.

Clara, a humanoid robot with soft silicone skin and a calming voice,

assists you with medication.

Her senses can immediately detect changes in your mood,

walking pattern or skin temperature.

Prakash, a robot designed for emotional wellbeing,

tells you a joke.

His AI adapts to each resident's personality

and allows him to keep up to date with their interests,

likes and dislikes.

While this scenario may sound idyllic,

it's not without serious considerations.

Take, for example, logistics.

This vision would mean

extensive building redesigns

to accommodate robot carers.

Care homes of the future would need to take into consideration

how robots navigate rough terrain, shared spaces

and moving around one another,

all while ensuring that they don't themselves become mobility hazards

for residents.

And on an ethical and legal level,

there's a ton of complexities with no easy answers.

Imagine a scenario where a robot makes a mistake,

perhaps administering the wrong medication

or failing to alert staff during an emergency.

Who or what would be held responsible?

And what are the privacy implications

of sharing all your personal health data with a robot?

And what will all of this mean in terms of maintaining the skills

and jobs of human care workers?

And then there's, of course, the question

at the heart of what it means to give and receive care.

Empathy, emotional support

and human contact are essential for all of us,

particularly when we're at our most vulnerable.

While robots may be able to help out with physical caring,

health monitoring, and even limited companionship,

could they ever be a true substitute

for the humans currently doing those jobs?

This leads us to perhaps our most important question.

Would we have the right to refuse robot care?

And how might we be empowered to do so?

These aren't just questions for engineers or policymakers.

They're for all of us.

What do we want our care to look like in the future?

Today's research looks at how robots can make their own decisions

using data from their sensors, other robots

and tech worn by residents and carers.

By 2100, robots will be far more capable than they are today.

If they can allow for more time and attention from human carers

and empower our older selves

to live safe, dignified and fulfilled lives,

perhaps it's not a question of if they should be used, but how.