AI-Enhanced Social Robots for Older Adults Care: Evaluating the Efficacy of ChatGPT-Powered Storytelling in the EBO Platform

Abstract

The population of older adults is growing worldwide, and with it, there is a need for appropriate and effective cognitive therapies. Social robots have shown potential as therapeutic tools for older adults, providing companionship, entertainment, and therapeutic support. In particular, storytelling activities promote cognitive stimulation, socio-emotional skills, and simple entertainment. However, conventional storytelling methodologies concerning engagement, personalization, and interactivity exhibit a potential for greater diversity. These traditional approaches often require extensive preparation time, which can limit their feasibility and adaptability in diverse settings. Social robots can help overcome these limitations by providing a more interactive and engaging storytelling experience. In this paper, we present an approach to enhance the storytelling capabilities of the EBO robot, a social robot designed for interaction with older adult people. As a novelty, in addition to integrating the proposed system in the CORTEX cognitive architecture, we offer to include the therapist in the loop and integrate Artificial Intelligence techniques, including a Large Language Model, ChatGPT, to enable the robot to generate natural-sounding and engaging narratives, adjust its interactions based on the cognitive impairments, and align with the interests and preferences of the user. We demonstrate the effectiveness of our approach through a case study involving older adult participants and therapists. Our preliminary results show that the EBO robot, integrating AI techniques, can provide an interactive, customizable, and socially aware storytelling experience that promotes cognitive stimulation, socio-emotional skills, and simple entertainment that is engaging and enjoyable for older adults. Our approach could contribute to developing effective and engaging therapies for older adults using social robots as therapeutic tools.

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