Artificial intimacy: Prescribing robots to combat loneliness

Artificial intimacy: Prescribing robots to combat loneliness

Author: Financial Times March 11, 2026 Duration: 30:48

After Tony’s wife died, days would go by without him speaking to anyone. Then he got a live-in AI robot called ElliQ. It chats to him, plays games with him and reminds him to eat and exercise. Since ElliQ arrived, Tony has been much less lonely. 


In this episode: policymakers are trialling AI companions to help tackle loneliness among elderly and vulnerable populations. But can machines really replace human company? And are we outsourcing care for marginalised communities to robots?


Featuring Anthony Niemiec, Anh Hee Soon, Ki Kyung-eun, Greg Olsen, director of New York State Office for the Aging, and Caroline Green, director of research at the University of Oxford’s Institute for Ethics in AI.


Check out some of the FT’s reporting on this subject on FT.com:

The reality of chatbot-induced delusions

Can ChatGPT help with a midlife crisis? 

The problem with AI and ‘empathy’


Artificial Intimacy is presented by Cristina Criddle and produced by Persis Love and Edwin Lane. Additional reporting and production by Jen Kwon and Michela Tindera. The executive producer is Flo Phillips. Sound design is by Breen Turner and Sam Giovinco. The FT’s global head of audio is Cheryl Brumley.


The FT does not use generative AI to voice its podcasts.


Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com


Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.


From the Financial Times, FT Tech Tonic steps beyond the breathless headlines and gadget launches to explore how technology is fundamentally reshaping our lives, economies, and social structures. This isn't just a series about the latest app; it's a deep, considered examination of the forces driving the digital age and their often unintended consequences. Each episode grapples with the complex interplay between innovation and its real-world impact, drawing on the FT's global reporting expertise to provide clarity and context. You'll hear conversations that dissect the power dynamics in Silicon Valley, investigate the ethical dilemmas of artificial intelligence, and explore how entrepreneurship is being redefined across different cultures. The podcast digs into the substance behind the hype, asking whether emerging technologies truly deliver on their promise to improve society or if they introduce new perils we are only beginning to understand. By weaving together threads from technology, business, and culture, the discussions offer a nuanced perspective that challenges simplistic narratives. Tune in for thoughtful analysis that connects the dots between boardroom strategies, algorithmic biases, and the everyday experiences that define our increasingly connected world.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 100

FT Tech Tonic
Podcast Episodes
Superintelligent AI: Transhumanism etc. [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 25:59
What are the ideas driving the pursuit of human-level AI? In the penultimate episode of this Tech Tonic series, hosts Madhumita Murgia and John Thornhill look at some of the futuristic objectives that are at the centre o…
Superintelligent AI: can chatbots think? [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 28:36
Are generative AI systems such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT really intelligent? Large language models such as GPT 4 appear to use human-level cognitive abilities when they engage in legal reasoning, write essays or solve complex…
Superintelligent AI: The Utopians [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 24:48
If even AI companies are fretting about the existential threat that human-level AI poses, why are they building these machines in the first place? And as they press ahead, a debate is raging about how we regulate this em…
Superintelligent AI: The Doomers [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 28:47
In the first episode of a new, five-part series of Tech Tonic, FT journalists Madhumita Murgia and John Thornhill ask how close we are to building human-level artificial intelligence and whether ‘superintelligent’ AI pos…
Coming soon: Superintelligent AI [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 4:10
In a new series of Tech Tonic, FT journalists Madhumita Murgia and John Thornhill look at the concerns around the rise of artificial intelligence. Will superintelligent AI bring existential risk, or a new renaissance? Wo…
Can AI help us speak to animals? Part two [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 24:50
A hardware revolution in recording devices and a software revolution in artificial intelligence has convinced some scientists that humans will eventually be able to ‘translate’ animal and even plant sounds into human lan…
Can AI help us speak to animals? Part one [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 29:12
A hardware revolution in recording devices and a software revolution in artificial intelligence is enabling researchers to listen in to all kinds of conversations outside the human hearing range, a field known as bioacou…
Can AI help us speak to animals? Karen Bakker interview [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 32:42
The Canadian scientist and author Karen Bakker, who died unexpectedly in August this year, was a leading voice in the bioacoustic research community. Her 2022 book, The Sounds of Life, explained how it might one day be p…
Coming soon: Can AI help us speak to animals? [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:09
Some scientists believe that rapid advances in artificial intelligence may also hold the key to decoding animal sounds, allowing us to ‘translate’ them into human language. In a new season of Tech Tonic, FT innovation ed…
The quantum revolution: Live at Founders Forum [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 29:47
A bonus episode to go with our Quantum Revolution season. The FT’s John Thornhill and Madhumita Murgia host a panel of experts at the Founders Forum conference, discussing the promise of quantum computing and the state o…