Next-generation socially assistive robots have been successfully tested in healthcare settings to assist patients, alleviate their anxiety, and relieve pressure on nursing staff as a part of a hospital trial.

The trial, co-conducted by researchers from the National Robotarium in Edinburgh, developed robots equipped with advanced artificial intelligence to enable natural conversations, understand patients’ needs, and assist hospital staff with routine tasks at the Assistance Publique-Hôpitaux de Paris.

Early results show the robots were able to smoothly engage in social interactions like greeting patients, answering questions, and providing directions. Further, they were able to demonstrate an ability to comprehend multi-party conversations, following dialogue between several individuals simultaneously.

By undertaking simple but repetitive duties, the robots also reduced potential physical contact between clinicians and patients as part of the trial, with initial feedback suggesting the use of socially assistive robots may lower infection transmission risk, while boosting productivity of nurses and doctors.

Anxiety and uncertainty can often precede a hospital visit and it’s understood that this behaviour can be more pronounced in senior patients, with up to 20% of older adults suffering from the illness. It’s hoped that the availability of helpful and socially intelligent robots that can converse and answer initial screening questions whilst alleviating busy hospital staff could prove beneficial in clinical settings.

The feasibility of implementing the trial has been made possible by academics at the National Robotarium who have made advances in developing large language models (LLMs) that enable robots to be capable of natural and fluent conversations with groups of people.

The €8.4 million (£7.1m~) collaborative project involves researchers from the National Robotarium, Heriot-Watt University, the Czech Technical University, Bar Ilan University Israel, University of Trento Italy, Assistance Publique-Hôpitaux de Paris, PAL Robotics Spain, ERM Automatismes France, and was coordinated by Inria France.

The National Robotarium is part of the Data-Driven Innovation initiative, supported by £21 million from the UK Government and £1.4 million from the Scottish Government. The initiative aims to turn Edinburgh into the data capital of Europe and is part of the wider £1.5 billion Edinburgh and South-East Scotland City Region Deal.

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Oliver Lemon is a professor of AI and academic co-lead at the National Robotarium. He said: “Today’s rapid advances in AI are truly inspiring and open up a world of possibilities for its positive impact on various sectors, including healthcare. One of the most significant contributions of robotics and AI is its ability to conserve resources and alleviate human workload, therefore providing valuable new tools for enhancing healthcare delivery.

“The prospect of robots seamlessly collaborating with hospital staff to enhance the patient experience is now closer to reality. Promising initial trials at Assistance Publique Hôpitaux de Paris have demonstrated our robot’s ability to converse effectively with patients and their companions simultaneously.”

He also remarked that the project “marks a significant milestone in the development of interactive robotics, and we are proud of its achievements, while recognising the exciting challenges that lie ahead.”

Professor Anne-Sophie Rigaud, head of department at Assistance Publique-Hôpitaux de Paris, said: “Our patients are increasingly interested in robotics and the evolution of hospital services, which they see as the logical evolution of our society.

“We believe that the ARI robot could in future become an essential element of patient care in hospitals, thanks to its capacity for social interaction and guidance.

“Older adults have also expressed that they’re pleased with the design of the robot and thought that it would be useful to provide information and companionship to patients with cognitive disorders.”