Semua Kabar

The inside of a cell is a complicated orchestration of interactions between molecules.KEITH CHAMBERS/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARYhide caption

The inside of a cell is a complicated orchestration of interactions between molecules.

As artificial intelligence seeps into various areas of our society, it's rushing into others. One area it's making a big difference is protein science. We're talking the molecules that make our cells work. AI has hurtled the field forward by predicting what these molecular machines look like, which tells scientists how they do what they do — from processing our food to turning light into sugar.

Now, scientists at Google DeepMind have taken their protein prediction model to the next level with the release of AlphaFold3. It's an AI program that can predict the unique shape of proteins, as well as almost any other type of molecule a protein attaches to in order to function.

ProducerBerly McCoytalks to hostEmily Kwongabout the potential impact and the limitations of this new technology. Plus, they talk about the wider field of AI protein science and why researchers hope it will solve a range of problems, from disease to the climate.

Have other aspects of AI you want us to cover? Email us atshortwave@npr.org.

Listen to Short Wave onSpotify,Apple PodcastsandGoogle Podcasts.

Listen to every episode of Short Wave sponsor-free and support our work at NPR by signing up for Short Wave+ atplus.npr.org/shortwave.

Today's episode was produced by Rachel Carlson. It was edited by Rebecca Ramirez. Berly McCoy checked the facts. Ko Takasugi-Czernowin was the audio engineer.

AI companies are pushing increasingly lifelike ways to interact with their technology. Researchers in Denver say they have an AI-powered robot that can really improve senior citizens' quality of life.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:Artificial intelligence companies are pushing increasingly lifelike ways to use their technology. Researchers in Denver say they have an AI-powered robot that can improve senior citizens' quality of life. Colorado Public Radio's Andrea Dukakis reports.ANDREA DUKAKIS, BYLINE: For the past couple months, Ryan the robot has lived with 76-year-old Ross Argabrite at Eaton Senior Communities, just outside Denver. Argabrite's on oxygen 24-7 and spends a lot of time on his couch. So he appreciates Ryan's company.ROSS ARGABRITE: Tell me another joke.RYAN: My tennis opponent was not happy with my serve. He kept returning it. Hope you liked that one.DUKAKIS: Ryan looks vaguely like a person, with a face, eyes, nose, a mouth and just an upper body with arms. So it's perched on a table. When Argabrite talks, the robot turns to focus on him. A computer touchscreen in Ryan's torso allows Argabrite to watch video, select music and play games. The technology is still a work in progress. Downstairs at the retirement home, an identical version is teaching a yoga class.RYAN: Up to an upright seated position with a tall spine.DUKAKIS: About half a dozen residents sit in a semicircle around the robot, which moves its arms to demonstrate the exercises.RYAN: We will start by reaching our arms forward, then pulling our arms back.DUKAKIS: Resident Steve Auten says he enjoyed the yoga and feels a special connection to the robot, which spent two months in Auten's room.STEVE AUTEN: We talked a lot. We played games. And, you know, he'd say, good morning, Steve, every time I walked into the room in the morning – and then, good evening. And he was very polite.DUKAKIS: Ryan's creator, Mohammad Mahoor, an AI expert at the University of Denver, says, The robot's designed to be entertaining and educational. But what's most important is the robot's ability to respond to people's emotions.MOHAMMAD MAHOOR: So if, for example, ask Ryan or tell Ryan that, you know, I lost my cat or something's going on in my life, Ryan would try to empathize with you, to tell you that – what's going on in your life? How can I help you with your feeling?DUKAKIS: Sarah Schoeder at Eaton Senior Communities was a skeptic but now calls the robot a game changer. One resident, Katie, who was depressed and had mild dementia, roomed with the robot. Ryan reminded her to take her medications and go to therapy. It was also Katie's companion.SARAH SCHOEDER: Katie was so much happier with Ryan. She loved to share the stories of their conversations. It was really Katie's experience that made me understand that this technology was very much needed.DUKAKIS: Schoeder, a former nurse, thinks of Ryan as an extra hand.SCHOEDER: I don't see Ryan replacing me as a medical professional. He's just allowing me to do my job and do it better because I now have someone that can help.DUKAKIS: In a different project, computer science professor Maja Mataric at the University of Southern California had a team leave socially assistive robots in elderly people's homes to keep them from sitting too much. The robot would tell them jokes and do a dance with them.MAJA MATARIC: Within a couple of days, people would sort of anticipate when the robot was going to tell them to stand up and they would preempt it. They would stand up and be like, hey, I'm standing. And then they would get an extra joke. And they were so sad when we had to take the robot back.DUKAKIS: Mataric laments, a lot of research funding goes to designing robots that do physical tasks humans don't want to do, instead of ones that offer social support.For NPR News, I'm Andrea Dukakis in Denver.(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)Copyright © 2025 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our websiteterms of useandpermissionspages atwww.npr.orgfor further information.Accuracy and availability of NPR transcripts may vary. Transcript text may be revised to correct errors or match updates to audio. Audio on npr.org may be edited after its original broadcast or publication. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:Artificial intelligence companies are pushing increasingly lifelike ways to use their technology. Researchers in Denver say they have an AI-powered robot that can improve senior citizens' quality of life. Colorado Public Radio's Andrea Dukakis reports.ANDREA DUKAKIS, BYLINE: For the past couple months, Ryan the robot has lived with 76-year-old Ross Argabrite at Eaton Senior Communities, just outside Denver. Argabrite's on oxygen 24-7 and spends a lot of time on his couch. So he appreciates Ryan's company.ROSS ARGABRITE: Tell me another joke.RYAN: My tennis opponent was not happy with my serve. He kept returning it. Hope you liked that one.DUKAKIS: Ryan looks vaguely like a person, with a face, eyes, nose, a mouth and just an upper body with arms. So it's perched on a table. When Argabrite talks, the robot turns to focus on him. A computer touchscreen in Ryan's torso allows Argabrite to watch video, select music and play games. The technology is still a work in progress. Downstairs at the retirement home, an identical version is teaching a yoga class.RYAN: Up to an upright seated position with a tall spine.DUKAKIS: About half a dozen residents sit in a semicircle around the robot, which moves its arms to demonstrate the exercises.RYAN: We will start by reaching our arms forward, then pulling our arms back.DUKAKIS: Resident Steve Auten says he enjoyed the yoga and feels a special connection to the robot, which spent two months in Auten's room.STEVE AUTEN: We talked a lot. We played games. And, you know, he'd say, good morning, Steve, every time I walked into the room in the morning – and then, good evening. And he was very polite.DUKAKIS: Ryan's creator, Mohammad Mahoor, an AI expert at the University of Denver, says, The robot's designed to be entertaining and educational. But what's most important is the robot's ability to respond to people's emotions.MOHAMMAD MAHOOR: So if, for example, ask Ryan or tell Ryan that, you know, I lost my cat or something's going on in my life, Ryan would try to empathize with you, to tell you that – what's going on in your life? How can I help you with your feeling?DUKAKIS: Sarah Schoeder at Eaton Senior Communities was a skeptic but now calls the robot a game changer. One resident, Katie, who was depressed and had mild dementia, roomed with the robot. Ryan reminded her to take her medications and go to therapy. It was also Katie's companion.SARAH SCHOEDER: Katie was so much happier with Ryan. She loved to share the stories of their conversations. It was really Katie's experience that made me understand that this technology was very much needed.DUKAKIS: Schoeder, a former nurse, thinks of Ryan as an extra hand.SCHOEDER: I don't see Ryan replacing me as a medical professional. He's just allowing me to do my job and do it better because I now have someone that can help.DUKAKIS: In a different project, computer science professor Maja Mataric at the University of Southern California had a team leave socially assistive robots in elderly people's homes to keep them from sitting too much. The robot would tell them jokes and do a dance with them.MAJA MATARIC: Within a couple of days, people would sort of anticipate when the robot was going to tell them to stand up and they would preempt it. They would stand up and be like, hey, I'm standing. And then they would get an extra joke. And they were so sad when we had to take the robot back.DUKAKIS: Mataric laments, a lot of research funding goes to designing robots that do physical tasks humans don't want to do, instead of ones that offer social support.For NPR News, I'm Andrea Dukakis in Denver.(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)Copyright © 2025 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our websiteterms of useandpermissionspages atwww.npr.orgfor further information.Accuracy and availability of NPR transcripts may vary. Transcript text may be revised to correct errors or match updates to audio. Audio on npr.org may be edited after its original broadcast or publication. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

Artificial intelligence companies are pushing increasingly lifelike ways to use their technology. Researchers in Denver say they have an AI-powered robot that can improve senior citizens' quality of life. Colorado Public Radio's Andrea Dukakis reports.ANDREA DUKAKIS, BYLINE: For the past couple months, Ryan the robot has lived with 76-year-old Ross Argabrite at Eaton Senior Communities, just outside Denver. Argabrite's on oxygen 24-7 and spends a lot of time on his couch. So he appreciates Ryan's company.ROSS ARGABRITE: Tell me another joke.RYAN: My tennis opponent was not happy with my serve. He kept returning it. Hope you liked that one.DUKAKIS: Ryan looks vaguely like a person, with a face, eyes, nose, a mouth and just an upper body with arms. So it's perched on a table. When Argabrite talks, the robot turns to focus on him. A computer touchscreen in Ryan's torso allows Argabrite to watch video, select music and play games. The technology is still a work in progress. Downstairs at the retirement home, an identical version is teaching a yoga class.RYAN: Up to an upright seated position with a tall spine.DUKAKIS: About half a dozen residents sit in a semicircle around the robot, which moves its arms to demonstrate the exercises.RYAN: We will start by reaching our arms forward, then pulling our arms back.DUKAKIS: Resident Steve Auten says he enjoyed the yoga and feels a special connection to the robot, which spent two months in Auten's room.STEVE AUTEN: We talked a lot. We played games. And, you know, he'd say, good morning, Steve, every time I walked into the room in the morning – and then, good evening. And he was very polite.DUKAKIS: Ryan's creator, Mohammad Mahoor, an AI expert at the University of Denver, says, The robot's designed to be entertaining and educational. But what's most important is the robot's ability to respond to people's emotions.MOHAMMAD MAHOOR: So if, for example, ask Ryan or tell Ryan that, you know, I lost my cat or something's going on in my life, Ryan would try to empathize with you, to tell you that – what's going on in your life? How can I help you with your feeling?DUKAKIS: Sarah Schoeder at Eaton Senior Communities was a skeptic but now calls the robot a game changer. One resident, Katie, who was depressed and had mild dementia, roomed with the robot. Ryan reminded her to take her medications and go to therapy. It was also Katie's companion.SARAH SCHOEDER: Katie was so much happier with Ryan. She loved to share the stories of their conversations. It was really Katie's experience that made me understand that this technology was very much needed.DUKAKIS: Schoeder, a former nurse, thinks of Ryan as an extra hand.SCHOEDER: I don't see Ryan replacing me as a medical professional. He's just allowing me to do my job and do it better because I now have someone that can help.DUKAKIS: In a different project, computer science professor Maja Mataric at the University of Southern California had a team leave socially assistive robots in elderly people's homes to keep them from sitting too much. The robot would tell them jokes and do a dance with them.MAJA MATARIC: Within a couple of days, people would sort of anticipate when the robot was going to tell them to stand up and they would preempt it. They would stand up and be like, hey, I'm standing. And then they would get an extra joke. And they were so sad when we had to take the robot back.DUKAKIS: Mataric laments, a lot of research funding goes to designing robots that do physical tasks humans don't want to do, instead of ones that offer social support.For NPR News, I'm Andrea Dukakis in Denver.(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)Copyright © 2025 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our websiteterms of useandpermissionspages atwww.npr.orgfor further information.Accuracy and availability of NPR transcripts may vary. Transcript text may be revised to correct errors or match updates to audio. Audio on npr.org may be edited after its original broadcast or publication. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

Artificial intelligence companies are pushing increasingly lifelike ways to use their technology. Researchers in Denver say they have an AI-powered robot that can improve senior citizens' quality of life. Colorado Public Radio's Andrea Dukakis reports.ANDREA DUKAKIS, BYLINE: For the past couple months, Ryan the robot has lived with 76-year-old Ross Argabrite at Eaton Senior Communities, just outside Denver. Argabrite's on oxygen 24-7 and spends a lot of time on his couch. So he appreciates Ryan's company.ROSS ARGABRITE: Tell me another joke.RYAN: My tennis opponent was not happy with my serve. He kept returning it. Hope you liked that one.DUKAKIS: Ryan looks vaguely like a person, with a face, eyes, nose, a mouth and just an upper body with arms. So it's perched on a table. When Argabrite talks, the robot turns to focus on him. A computer touchscreen in Ryan's torso allows Argabrite to watch video, select music and play games. The technology is still a work in progress. Downstairs at the retirement home, an identical version is teaching a yoga class.RYAN: Up to an upright seated position with a tall spine.DUKAKIS: About half a dozen residents sit in a semicircle around the robot, which moves its arms to demonstrate the exercises.RYAN: We will start by reaching our arms forward, then pulling our arms back.DUKAKIS: Resident Steve Auten says he enjoyed the yoga and feels a special connection to the robot, which spent two months in Auten's room.STEVE AUTEN: We talked a lot. We played games. And, you know, he'd say, good morning, Steve, every time I walked into the room in the morning – and then, good evening. And he was very polite.DUKAKIS: Ryan's creator, Mohammad Mahoor, an AI expert at the University of Denver, says, The robot's designed to be entertaining and educational. But what's most important is the robot's ability to respond to people's emotions.MOHAMMAD MAHOOR: So if, for example, ask Ryan or tell Ryan that, you know, I lost my cat or something's going on in my life, Ryan would try to empathize with you, to tell you that – what's going on in your life? How can I help you with your feeling?DUKAKIS: Sarah Schoeder at Eaton Senior Communities was a skeptic but now calls the robot a game changer. One resident, Katie, who was depressed and had mild dementia, roomed with the robot. Ryan reminded her to take her medications and go to therapy. It was also Katie's companion.SARAH SCHOEDER: Katie was so much happier with Ryan. She loved to share the stories of their conversations. It was really Katie's experience that made me understand that this technology was very much needed.DUKAKIS: Schoeder, a former nurse, thinks of Ryan as an extra hand.SCHOEDER: I don't see Ryan replacing me as a medical professional. He's just allowing me to do my job and do it better because I now have someone that can help.DUKAKIS: In a different project, computer science professor Maja Mataric at the University of Southern California had a team leave socially assistive robots in elderly people's homes to keep them from sitting too much. The robot would tell them jokes and do a dance with them.MAJA MATARIC: Within a couple of days, people would sort of anticipate when the robot was going to tell them to stand up and they would preempt it. They would stand up and be like, hey, I'm standing. And then they would get an extra joke. And they were so sad when we had to take the robot back.DUKAKIS: Mataric laments, a lot of research funding goes to designing robots that do physical tasks humans don't want to do, instead of ones that offer social support.For NPR News, I'm Andrea Dukakis in Denver.(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)Copyright © 2025 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our websiteterms of useandpermissionspages atwww.npr.orgfor further information.Accuracy and availability of NPR transcripts may vary. Transcript text may be revised to correct errors or match updates to audio. Audio on npr.org may be edited after its original broadcast or publication. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

ANDREA DUKAKIS, BYLINE: For the past couple months, Ryan the robot has lived with 76-year-old Ross Argabrite at Eaton Senior Communities, just outside Denver. Argabrite's on oxygen 24-7 and spends a lot of time on his couch. So he appreciates Ryan's company.ROSS ARGABRITE: Tell me another joke.RYAN: My tennis opponent was not happy with my serve. He kept returning it. Hope you liked that one.DUKAKIS: Ryan looks vaguely like a person, with a face, eyes, nose, a mouth and just an upper body with arms. So it's perched on a table. When Argabrite talks, the robot turns to focus on him. A computer touchscreen in Ryan's torso allows Argabrite to watch video, select music and play games. The technology is still a work in progress. Downstairs at the retirement home, an identical version is teaching a yoga class.RYAN: Up to an upright seated position with a tall spine.DUKAKIS: About half a dozen residents sit in a semicircle around the robot, which moves its arms to demonstrate the exercises.RYAN: We will start by reaching our arms forward, then pulling our arms back.DUKAKIS: Resident Steve Auten says he enjoyed the yoga and feels a special connection to the robot, which spent two months in Auten's room.STEVE AUTEN: We talked a lot. We played games. And, you know, he'd say, good morning, Steve, every time I walked into the room in the morning – and then, good evening. And he was very polite.DUKAKIS: Ryan's creator, Mohammad Mahoor, an AI expert at the University of Denver, says, The robot's designed to be entertaining and educational. But what's most important is the robot's ability to respond to people's emotions.MOHAMMAD MAHOOR: So if, for example, ask Ryan or tell Ryan that, you know, I lost my cat or something's going on in my life, Ryan would try to empathize with you, to tell you that – what's going on in your life? How can I help you with your feeling?DUKAKIS: Sarah Schoeder at Eaton Senior Communities was a skeptic but now calls the robot a game changer. One resident, Katie, who was depressed and had mild dementia, roomed with the robot. Ryan reminded her to take her medications and go to therapy. It was also Katie's companion.SARAH SCHOEDER: Katie was so much happier with Ryan. She loved to share the stories of their conversations. It was really Katie's experience that made me understand that this technology was very much needed.DUKAKIS: Schoeder, a former nurse, thinks of Ryan as an extra hand.SCHOEDER: I don't see Ryan replacing me as a medical professional. He's just allowing me to do my job and do it better because I now have someone that can help.DUKAKIS: In a different project, computer science professor Maja Mataric at the University of Southern California had a team leave socially assistive robots in elderly people's homes to keep them from sitting too much. The robot would tell them jokes and do a dance with them.MAJA MATARIC: Within a couple of days, people would sort of anticipate when the robot was going to tell them to stand up and they would preempt it. They would stand up and be like, hey, I'm standing. And then they would get an extra joke. And they were so sad when we had to take the robot back.DUKAKIS: Mataric laments, a lot of research funding goes to designing robots that do physical tasks humans don't want to do, instead of ones that offer social support.For NPR News, I'm Andrea Dukakis in Denver.(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)Copyright © 2025 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our websiteterms of useandpermissionspages atwww.npr.orgfor further information.Accuracy and availability of NPR transcripts may vary. Transcript text may be revised to correct errors or match updates to audio. Audio on npr.org may be edited after its original broadcast or publication. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

ANDREA DUKAKIS, BYLINE: For the past couple months, Ryan the robot has lived with 76-year-old Ross Argabrite at Eaton Senior Communities, just outside Denver. Argabrite's on oxygen 24-7 and spends a lot of time on his couch. So he appreciates Ryan's company.ROSS ARGABRITE: Tell me another joke.RYAN: My tennis opponent was not happy with my serve. He kept returning it. Hope you liked that one.DUKAKIS: Ryan looks vaguely like a person, with a face, eyes, nose, a mouth and just an upper body with arms. So it's perched on a table. When Argabrite talks, the robot turns to focus on him. A computer touchscreen in Ryan's torso allows Argabrite to watch video, select music and play games. The technology is still a work in progress. Downstairs at the retirement home, an identical version is teaching a yoga class.RYAN: Up to an upright seated position with a tall spine.DUKAKIS: About half a dozen residents sit in a semicircle around the robot, which moves its arms to demonstrate the exercises.RYAN: We will start by reaching our arms forward, then pulling our arms back.DUKAKIS: Resident Steve Auten says he enjoyed the yoga and feels a special connection to the robot, which spent two months in Auten's room.STEVE AUTEN: We talked a lot. We played games. And, you know, he'd say, good morning, Steve, every time I walked into the room in the morning – and then, good evening. And he was very polite.DUKAKIS: Ryan's creator, Mohammad Mahoor, an AI expert at the University of Denver, says, The robot's designed to be entertaining and educational. But what's most important is the robot's ability to respond to people's emotions.MOHAMMAD MAHOOR: So if, for example, ask Ryan or tell Ryan that, you know, I lost my cat or something's going on in my life, Ryan would try to empathize with you, to tell you that – what's going on in your life? How can I help you with your feeling?DUKAKIS: Sarah Schoeder at Eaton Senior Communities was a skeptic but now calls the robot a game changer. One resident, Katie, who was depressed and had mild dementia, roomed with the robot. Ryan reminded her to take her medications and go to therapy. It was also Katie's companion.SARAH SCHOEDER: Katie was so much happier with Ryan. She loved to share the stories of their conversations. It was really Katie's experience that made me understand that this technology was very much needed.DUKAKIS: Schoeder, a former nurse, thinks of Ryan as an extra hand.SCHOEDER: I don't see Ryan replacing me as a medical professional. He's just allowing me to do my job and do it better because I now have someone that can help.DUKAKIS: In a different project, computer science professor Maja Mataric at the University of Southern California had a team leave socially assistive robots in elderly people's homes to keep them from sitting too much. The robot would tell them jokes and do a dance with them.MAJA MATARIC: Within a couple of days, people would sort of anticipate when the robot was going to tell them to stand up and they would preempt it. They would stand up and be like, hey, I'm standing. And then they would get an extra joke. And they were so sad when we had to take the robot back.DUKAKIS: Mataric laments, a lot of research funding goes to designing robots that do physical tasks humans don't want to do, instead of ones that offer social support.For NPR News, I'm Andrea Dukakis in Denver.(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)Copyright © 2025 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our websiteterms of useandpermissionspages atwww.npr.orgfor further information.Accuracy and availability of NPR transcripts may vary. Transcript text may be revised to correct errors or match updates to audio. Audio on npr.org may be edited after its original broadcast or publication. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

ROSS ARGABRITE: Tell me another joke.RYAN: My tennis opponent was not happy with my serve. He kept returning it. Hope you liked that one.DUKAKIS: Ryan looks vaguely like a person, with a face, eyes, nose, a mouth and just an upper body with arms. So it's perched on a table. When Argabrite talks, the robot turns to focus on him. A computer touchscreen in Ryan's torso allows Argabrite to watch video, select music and play games. The technology is still a work in progress. Downstairs at the retirement home, an identical version is teaching a yoga class.RYAN: Up to an upright seated position with a tall spine.DUKAKIS: About half a dozen residents sit in a semicircle around the robot, which moves its arms to demonstrate the exercises.RYAN: We will start by reaching our arms forward, then pulling our arms back.DUKAKIS: Resident Steve Auten says he enjoyed the yoga and feels a special connection to the robot, which spent two months in Auten's room.STEVE AUTEN: We talked a lot. We played games. And, you know, he'd say, good morning, Steve, every time I walked into the room in the morning – and then, good evening. And he was very polite.DUKAKIS: Ryan's creator, Mohammad Mahoor, an AI expert at the University of Denver, says, The robot's designed to be entertaining and educational. But what's most important is the robot's ability to respond to people's emotions.MOHAMMAD MAHOOR: So if, for example, ask Ryan or tell Ryan that, you know, I lost my cat or something's going on in my life, Ryan would try to empathize with you, to tell you that – what's going on in your life? How can I help you with your feeling?DUKAKIS: Sarah Schoeder at Eaton Senior Communities was a skeptic but now calls the robot a game changer. One resident, Katie, who was depressed and had mild dementia, roomed with the robot. Ryan reminded her to take her medications and go to therapy. It was also Katie's companion.SARAH SCHOEDER: Katie was so much happier with Ryan. She loved to share the stories of their conversations. It was really Katie's experience that made me understand that this technology was very much needed.DUKAKIS: Schoeder, a former nurse, thinks of Ryan as an extra hand.SCHOEDER: I don't see Ryan replacing me as a medical professional. He's just allowing me to do my job and do it better because I now have someone that can help.DUKAKIS: In a different project, computer science professor Maja Mataric at the University of Southern California had a team leave socially assistive robots in elderly people's homes to keep them from sitting too much. The robot would tell them jokes and do a dance with them.MAJA MATARIC: Within a couple of days, people would sort of anticipate when the robot was going to tell them to stand up and they would preempt it. They would stand up and be like, hey, I'm standing. And then they would get an extra joke. And they were so sad when we had to take the robot back.DUKAKIS: Mataric laments, a lot of research funding goes to designing robots that do physical tasks humans don't want to do, instead of ones that offer social support.For NPR News, I'm Andrea Dukakis in Denver.(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)Copyright © 2025 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our websiteterms of useandpermissionspages atwww.npr.orgfor further information.Accuracy and availability of NPR transcripts may vary. Transcript text may be revised to correct errors or match updates to audio. Audio on npr.org may be edited after its original broadcast or publication. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

ROSS ARGABRITE: Tell me another joke.RYAN: My tennis opponent was not happy with my serve. He kept returning it. Hope you liked that one.DUKAKIS: Ryan looks vaguely like a person, with a face, eyes, nose, a mouth and just an upper body with arms. So it's perched on a table. When Argabrite talks, the robot turns to focus on him. A computer touchscreen in Ryan's torso allows Argabrite to watch video, select music and play games. The technology is still a work in progress. Downstairs at the retirement home, an identical version is teaching a yoga class.RYAN: Up to an upright seated position with a tall spine.DUKAKIS: About half a dozen residents sit in a semicircle around the robot, which moves its arms to demonstrate the exercises.RYAN: We will start by reaching our arms forward, then pulling our arms back.DUKAKIS: Resident Steve Auten says he enjoyed the yoga and feels a special connection to the robot, which spent two months in Auten's room.STEVE AUTEN: We talked a lot. We played games. And, you know, he'd say, good morning, Steve, every time I walked into the room in the morning – and then, good evening. And he was very polite.DUKAKIS: Ryan's creator, Mohammad Mahoor, an AI expert at the University of Denver, says, The robot's designed to be entertaining and educational. But what's most important is the robot's ability to respond to people's emotions.MOHAMMAD MAHOOR: So if, for example, ask Ryan or tell Ryan that, you know, I lost my cat or something's going on in my life, Ryan would try to empathize with you, to tell you that – what's going on in your life? How can I help you with your feeling?DUKAKIS: Sarah Schoeder at Eaton Senior Communities was a skeptic but now calls the robot a game changer. One resident, Katie, who was depressed and had mild dementia, roomed with the robot. Ryan reminded her to take her medications and go to therapy. It was also Katie's companion.SARAH SCHOEDER: Katie was so much happier with Ryan. She loved to share the stories of their conversations. It was really Katie's experience that made me understand that this technology was very much needed.DUKAKIS: Schoeder, a former nurse, thinks of Ryan as an extra hand.SCHOEDER: I don't see Ryan replacing me as a medical professional. He's just allowing me to do my job and do it better because I now have someone that can help.DUKAKIS: In a different project, computer science professor Maja Mataric at the University of Southern California had a team leave socially assistive robots in elderly people's homes to keep them from sitting too much. The robot would tell them jokes and do a dance with them.MAJA MATARIC: Within a couple of days, people would sort of anticipate when the robot was going to tell them to stand up and they would preempt it. They would stand up and be like, hey, I'm standing. And then they would get an extra joke. And they were so sad when we had to take the robot back.DUKAKIS: Mataric laments, a lot of research funding goes to designing robots that do physical tasks humans don't want to do, instead of ones that offer social support.For NPR News, I'm Andrea Dukakis in Denver.(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)Copyright © 2025 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our websiteterms of useandpermissionspages atwww.npr.orgfor further information.Accuracy and availability of NPR transcripts may vary. Transcript text may be revised to correct errors or match updates to audio. Audio on npr.org may be edited after its original broadcast or publication. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

RYAN: My tennis opponent was not happy with my serve. He kept returning it. Hope you liked that one.DUKAKIS: Ryan looks vaguely like a person, with a face, eyes, nose, a mouth and just an upper body with arms. So it's perched on a table. When Argabrite talks, the robot turns to focus on him. A computer touchscreen in Ryan's torso allows Argabrite to watch video, select music and play games. The technology is still a work in progress. Downstairs at the retirement home, an identical version is teaching a yoga class.RYAN: Up to an upright seated position with a tall spine.DUKAKIS: About half a dozen residents sit in a semicircle around the robot, which moves its arms to demonstrate the exercises.RYAN: We will start by reaching our arms forward, then pulling our arms back.DUKAKIS: Resident Steve Auten says he enjoyed the yoga and feels a special connection to the robot, which spent two months in Auten's room.STEVE AUTEN: We talked a lot. We played games. And, you know, he'd say, good morning, Steve, every time I walked into the room in the morning – and then, good evening. And he was very polite.DUKAKIS: Ryan's creator, Mohammad Mahoor, an AI expert at the University of Denver, says, The robot's designed to be entertaining and educational. But what's most important is the robot's ability to respond to people's emotions.MOHAMMAD MAHOOR: So if, for example, ask Ryan or tell Ryan that, you know, I lost my cat or something's going on in my life, Ryan would try to empathize with you, to tell you that – what's going on in your life? How can I help you with your feeling?DUKAKIS: Sarah Schoeder at Eaton Senior Communities was a skeptic but now calls the robot a game changer. One resident, Katie, who was depressed and had mild dementia, roomed with the robot. Ryan reminded her to take her medications and go to therapy. It was also Katie's companion.SARAH SCHOEDER: Katie was so much happier with Ryan. She loved to share the stories of their conversations. It was really Katie's experience that made me understand that this technology was very much needed.DUKAKIS: Schoeder, a former nurse, thinks of Ryan as an extra hand.SCHOEDER: I don't see Ryan replacing me as a medical professional. He's just allowing me to do my job and do it better because I now have someone that can help.DUKAKIS: In a different project, computer science professor Maja Mataric at the University of Southern California had a team leave socially assistive robots in elderly people's homes to keep them from sitting too much. The robot would tell them jokes and do a dance with them.MAJA MATARIC: Within a couple of days, people would sort of anticipate when the robot was going to tell them to stand up and they would preempt it. They would stand up and be like, hey, I'm standing. And then they would get an extra joke. And they were so sad when we had to take the robot back.DUKAKIS: Mataric laments, a lot of research funding goes to designing robots that do physical tasks humans don't want to do, instead of ones that offer social support.For NPR News, I'm Andrea Dukakis in Denver.(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)Copyright © 2025 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our websiteterms of useandpermissionspages atwww.npr.orgfor further information.Accuracy and availability of NPR transcripts may vary. Transcript text may be revised to correct errors or match updates to audio. Audio on npr.org may be edited after its original broadcast or publication. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

RYAN: My tennis opponent was not happy with my serve. He kept returning it. Hope you liked that one.DUKAKIS: Ryan looks vaguely like a person, with a face, eyes, nose, a mouth and just an upper body with arms. So it's perched on a table. When Argabrite talks, the robot turns to focus on him. A computer touchscreen in Ryan's torso allows Argabrite to watch video, select music and play games. The technology is still a work in progress. Downstairs at the retirement home, an identical version is teaching a yoga class.RYAN: Up to an upright seated position with a tall spine.DUKAKIS: About half a dozen residents sit in a semicircle around the robot, which moves its arms to demonstrate the exercises.RYAN: We will start by reaching our arms forward, then pulling our arms back.DUKAKIS: Resident Steve Auten says he enjoyed the yoga and feels a special connection to the robot, which spent two months in Auten's room.STEVE AUTEN: We talked a lot. We played games. And, you know, he'd say, good morning, Steve, every time I walked into the room in the morning – and then, good evening. And he was very polite.DUKAKIS: Ryan's creator, Mohammad Mahoor, an AI expert at the University of Denver, says, The robot's designed to be entertaining and educational. But what's most important is the robot's ability to respond to people's emotions.MOHAMMAD MAHOOR: So if, for example, ask Ryan or tell Ryan that, you know, I lost my cat or something's going on in my life, Ryan would try to empathize with you, to tell you that – what's going on in your life? How can I help you with your feeling?DUKAKIS: Sarah Schoeder at Eaton Senior Communities was a skeptic but now calls the robot a game changer. One resident, Katie, who was depressed and had mild dementia, roomed with the robot. Ryan reminded her to take her medications and go to therapy. It was also Katie's companion.SARAH SCHOEDER: Katie was so much happier with Ryan. She loved to share the stories of their conversations. It was really Katie's experience that made me understand that this technology was very much needed.DUKAKIS: Schoeder, a former nurse, thinks of Ryan as an extra hand.SCHOEDER: I don't see Ryan replacing me as a medical professional. He's just allowing me to do my job and do it better because I now have someone that can help.DUKAKIS: In a different project, computer science professor Maja Mataric at the University of Southern California had a team leave socially assistive robots in elderly people's homes to keep them from sitting too much. The robot would tell them jokes and do a dance with them.MAJA MATARIC: Within a couple of days, people would sort of anticipate when the robot was going to tell them to stand up and they would preempt it. They would stand up and be like, hey, I'm standing. And then they would get an extra joke. And they were so sad when we had to take the robot back.DUKAKIS: Mataric laments, a lot of research funding goes to designing robots that do physical tasks humans don't want to do, instead of ones that offer social support.For NPR News, I'm Andrea Dukakis in Denver.(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)Copyright © 2025 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our websiteterms of useandpermissionspages atwww.npr.orgfor further information.Accuracy and availability of NPR transcripts may vary. Transcript text may be revised to correct errors or match updates to audio. Audio on npr.org may be edited after its original broadcast or publication. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

DUKAKIS: Ryan looks vaguely like a person, with a face, eyes, nose, a mouth and just an upper body with arms. So it's perched on a table. When Argabrite talks, the robot turns to focus on him. A computer touchscreen in Ryan's torso allows Argabrite to watch video, select music and play games. The technology is still a work in progress. Downstairs at the retirement home, an identical version is teaching a yoga class.RYAN: Up to an upright seated position with a tall spine.DUKAKIS: About half a dozen residents sit in a semicircle around the robot, which moves its arms to demonstrate the exercises.RYAN: We will start by reaching our arms forward, then pulling our arms back.DUKAKIS: Resident Steve Auten says he enjoyed the yoga and feels a special connection to the robot, which spent two months in Auten's room.STEVE AUTEN: We talked a lot. We played games. And, you know, he'd say, good morning, Steve, every time I walked into the room in the morning – and then, good evening. And he was very polite.DUKAKIS: Ryan's creator, Mohammad Mahoor, an AI expert at the University of Denver, says, The robot's designed to be entertaining and educational. But what's most important is the robot's ability to respond to people's emotions.MOHAMMAD MAHOOR: So if, for example, ask Ryan or tell Ryan that, you know, I lost my cat or something's going on in my life, Ryan would try to empathize with you, to tell you that – what's going on in your life? How can I help you with your feeling?DUKAKIS: Sarah Schoeder at Eaton Senior Communities was a skeptic but now calls the robot a game changer. One resident, Katie, who was depressed and had mild dementia, roomed with the robot. Ryan reminded her to take her medications and go to therapy. It was also Katie's companion.SARAH SCHOEDER: Katie was so much happier with Ryan. She loved to share the stories of their conversations. It was really Katie's experience that made me understand that this technology was very much needed.DUKAKIS: Schoeder, a former nurse, thinks of Ryan as an extra hand.SCHOEDER: I don't see Ryan replacing me as a medical professional. He's just allowing me to do my job and do it better because I now have someone that can help.DUKAKIS: In a different project, computer science professor Maja Mataric at the University of Southern California had a team leave socially assistive robots in elderly people's homes to keep them from sitting too much. The robot would tell them jokes and do a dance with them.MAJA MATARIC: Within a couple of days, people would sort of anticipate when the robot was going to tell them to stand up and they would preempt it. They would stand up and be like, hey, I'm standing. And then they would get an extra joke. And they were so sad when we had to take the robot back.DUKAKIS: Mataric laments, a lot of research funding goes to designing robots that do physical tasks humans don't want to do, instead of ones that offer social support.For NPR News, I'm Andrea Dukakis in Denver.(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)Copyright © 2025 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our websiteterms of useandpermissionspages atwww.npr.orgfor further information.Accuracy and availability of NPR transcripts may vary. Transcript text may be revised to correct errors or match updates to audio. Audio on npr.org may be edited after its original broadcast or publication. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

DUKAKIS: Ryan looks vaguely like a person, with a face, eyes, nose, a mouth and just an upper body with arms. So it's perched on a table. When Argabrite talks, the robot turns to focus on him. A computer touchscreen in Ryan's torso allows Argabrite to watch video, select music and play games. The technology is still a work in progress. Downstairs at the retirement home, an identical version is teaching a yoga class.RYAN: Up to an upright seated position with a tall spine.DUKAKIS: About half a dozen residents sit in a semicircle around the robot, which moves its arms to demonstrate the exercises.RYAN: We will start by reaching our arms forward, then pulling our arms back.DUKAKIS: Resident Steve Auten says he enjoyed the yoga and feels a special connection to the robot, which spent two months in Auten's room.STEVE AUTEN: We talked a lot. We played games. And, you know, he'd say, good morning, Steve, every time I walked into the room in the morning – and then, good evening. And he was very polite.DUKAKIS: Ryan's creator, Mohammad Mahoor, an AI expert at the University of Denver, says, The robot's designed to be entertaining and educational. But what's most important is the robot's ability to respond to people's emotions.MOHAMMAD MAHOOR: So if, for example, ask Ryan or tell Ryan that, you know, I lost my cat or something's going on in my life, Ryan would try to empathize with you, to tell you that – what's going on in your life? How can I help you with your feeling?DUKAKIS: Sarah Schoeder at Eaton Senior Communities was a skeptic but now calls the robot a game changer. One resident, Katie, who was depressed and had mild dementia, roomed with the robot. Ryan reminded her to take her medications and go to therapy. It was also Katie's companion.SARAH SCHOEDER: Katie was so much happier with Ryan. She loved to share the stories of their conversations. It was really Katie's experience that made me understand that this technology was very much needed.DUKAKIS: Schoeder, a former nurse, thinks of Ryan as an extra hand.SCHOEDER: I don't see Ryan replacing me as a medical professional. He's just allowing me to do my job and do it better because I now have someone that can help.DUKAKIS: In a different project, computer science professor Maja Mataric at the University of Southern California had a team leave socially assistive robots in elderly people's homes to keep them from sitting too much. The robot would tell them jokes and do a dance with them.MAJA MATARIC: Within a couple of days, people would sort of anticipate when the robot was going to tell them to stand up and they would preempt it. They would stand up and be like, hey, I'm standing. And then they would get an extra joke. And they were so sad when we had to take the robot back.DUKAKIS: Mataric laments, a lot of research funding goes to designing robots that do physical tasks humans don't want to do, instead of ones that offer social support.For NPR News, I'm Andrea Dukakis in Denver.(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)Copyright © 2025 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our websiteterms of useandpermissionspages atwww.npr.orgfor further information.Accuracy and availability of NPR transcripts may vary. Transcript text may be revised to correct errors or match updates to audio. Audio on npr.org may be edited after its original broadcast or publication. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

RYAN: Up to an upright seated position with a tall spine.DUKAKIS: About half a dozen residents sit in a semicircle around the robot, which moves its arms to demonstrate the exercises.RYAN: We will start by reaching our arms forward, then pulling our arms back.DUKAKIS: Resident Steve Auten says he enjoyed the yoga and feels a special connection to the robot, which spent two months in Auten's room.STEVE AUTEN: We talked a lot. We played games. And, you know, he'd say, good morning, Steve, every time I walked into the room in the morning – and then, good evening. And he was very polite.DUKAKIS: Ryan's creator, Mohammad Mahoor, an AI expert at the University of Denver, says, The robot's designed to be entertaining and educational. But what's most important is the robot's ability to respond to people's emotions.MOHAMMAD MAHOOR: So if, for example, ask Ryan or tell Ryan that, you know, I lost my cat or something's going on in my life, Ryan would try to empathize with you, to tell you that – what's going on in your life? How can I help you with your feeling?DUKAKIS: Sarah Schoeder at Eaton Senior Communities was a skeptic but now calls the robot a game changer. One resident, Katie, who was depressed and had mild dementia, roomed with the robot. Ryan reminded her to take her medications and go to therapy. It was also Katie's companion.SARAH SCHOEDER: Katie was so much happier with Ryan. She loved to share the stories of their conversations. It was really Katie's experience that made me understand that this technology was very much needed.DUKAKIS: Schoeder, a former nurse, thinks of Ryan as an extra hand.SCHOEDER: I don't see Ryan replacing me as a medical professional. He's just allowing me to do my job and do it better because I now have someone that can help.DUKAKIS: In a different project, computer science professor Maja Mataric at the University of Southern California had a team leave socially assistive robots in elderly people's homes to keep them from sitting too much. The robot would tell them jokes and do a dance with them.MAJA MATARIC: Within a couple of days, people would sort of anticipate when the robot was going to tell them to stand up and they would preempt it. They would stand up and be like, hey, I'm standing. And then they would get an extra joke. And they were so sad when we had to take the robot back.DUKAKIS: Mataric laments, a lot of research funding goes to designing robots that do physical tasks humans don't want to do, instead of ones that offer social support.For NPR News, I'm Andrea Dukakis in Denver.(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)Copyright © 2025 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our websiteterms of useandpermissionspages atwww.npr.orgfor further information.Accuracy and availability of NPR transcripts may vary. Transcript text may be revised to correct errors or match updates to audio. Audio on npr.org may be edited after its original broadcast or publication. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

RYAN: Up to an upright seated position with a tall spine.DUKAKIS: About half a dozen residents sit in a semicircle around the robot, which moves its arms to demonstrate the exercises.RYAN: We will start by reaching our arms forward, then pulling our arms back.DUKAKIS: Resident Steve Auten says he enjoyed the yoga and feels a special connection to the robot, which spent two months in Auten's room.STEVE AUTEN: We talked a lot. We played games. And, you know, he'd say, good morning, Steve, every time I walked into the room in the morning – and then, good evening. And he was very polite.DUKAKIS: Ryan's creator, Mohammad Mahoor, an AI expert at the University of Denver, says, The robot's designed to be entertaining and educational. But what's most important is the robot's ability to respond to people's emotions.MOHAMMAD MAHOOR: So if, for example, ask Ryan or tell Ryan that, you know, I lost my cat or something's going on in my life, Ryan would try to empathize with you, to tell you that – what's going on in your life? How can I help you with your feeling?DUKAKIS: Sarah Schoeder at Eaton Senior Communities was a skeptic but now calls the robot a game changer. One resident, Katie, who was depressed and had mild dementia, roomed with the robot. Ryan reminded her to take her medications and go to therapy. It was also Katie's companion.SARAH SCHOEDER: Katie was so much happier with Ryan. She loved to share the stories of their conversations. It was really Katie's experience that made me understand that this technology was very much needed.DUKAKIS: Schoeder, a former nurse, thinks of Ryan as an extra hand.SCHOEDER: I don't see Ryan replacing me as a medical professional. He's just allowing me to do my job and do it better because I now have someone that can help.DUKAKIS: In a different project, computer science professor Maja Mataric at the University of Southern California had a team leave socially assistive robots in elderly people's homes to keep them from sitting too much. The robot would tell them jokes and do a dance with them.MAJA MATARIC: Within a couple of days, people would sort of anticipate when the robot was going to tell them to stand up and they would preempt it. They would stand up and be like, hey, I'm standing. And then they would get an extra joke. And they were so sad when we had to take the robot back.DUKAKIS: Mataric laments, a lot of research funding goes to designing robots that do physical tasks humans don't want to do, instead of ones that offer social support.For NPR News, I'm Andrea Dukakis in Denver.(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)Copyright © 2025 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our websiteterms of useandpermissionspages atwww.npr.orgfor further information.Accuracy and availability of NPR transcripts may vary. Transcript text may be revised to correct errors or match updates to audio. Audio on npr.org may be edited after its original broadcast or publication. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

DUKAKIS: About half a dozen residents sit in a semicircle around the robot, which moves its arms to demonstrate the exercises.RYAN: We will start by reaching our arms forward, then pulling our arms back.DUKAKIS: Resident Steve Auten says he enjoyed the yoga and feels a special connection to the robot, which spent two months in Auten's room.STEVE AUTEN: We talked a lot. We played games. And, you know, he'd say, good morning, Steve, every time I walked into the room in the morning – and then, good evening. And he was very polite.DUKAKIS: Ryan's creator, Mohammad Mahoor, an AI expert at the University of Denver, says, The robot's designed to be entertaining and educational. But what's most important is the robot's ability to respond to people's emotions.MOHAMMAD MAHOOR: So if, for example, ask Ryan or tell Ryan that, you know, I lost my cat or something's going on in my life, Ryan would try to empathize with you, to tell you that – what's going on in your life? How can I help you with your feeling?DUKAKIS: Sarah Schoeder at Eaton Senior Communities was a skeptic but now calls the robot a game changer. One resident, Katie, who was depressed and had mild dementia, roomed with the robot. Ryan reminded her to take her medications and go to therapy. It was also Katie's companion.SARAH SCHOEDER: Katie was so much happier with Ryan. She loved to share the stories of their conversations. It was really Katie's experience that made me understand that this technology was very much needed.DUKAKIS: Schoeder, a former nurse, thinks of Ryan as an extra hand.SCHOEDER: I don't see Ryan replacing me as a medical professional. He's just allowing me to do my job and do it better because I now have someone that can help.DUKAKIS: In a different project, computer science professor Maja Mataric at the University of Southern California had a team leave socially assistive robots in elderly people's homes to keep them from sitting too much. The robot would tell them jokes and do a dance with them.MAJA MATARIC: Within a couple of days, people would sort of anticipate when the robot was going to tell them to stand up and they would preempt it. They would stand up and be like, hey, I'm standing. And then they would get an extra joke. And they were so sad when we had to take the robot back.DUKAKIS: Mataric laments, a lot of research funding goes to designing robots that do physical tasks humans don't want to do, instead of ones that offer social support.For NPR News, I'm Andrea Dukakis in Denver.(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)Copyright © 2025 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our websiteterms of useandpermissionspages atwww.npr.orgfor further information.Accuracy and availability of NPR transcripts may vary. Transcript text may be revised to correct errors or match updates to audio. Audio on npr.org may be edited after its original broadcast or publication. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

DUKAKIS: About half a dozen residents sit in a semicircle around the robot, which moves its arms to demonstrate the exercises.RYAN: We will start by reaching our arms forward, then pulling our arms back.DUKAKIS: Resident Steve Auten says he enjoyed the yoga and feels a special connection to the robot, which spent two months in Auten's room.STEVE AUTEN: We talked a lot. We played games. And, you know, he'd say, good morning, Steve, every time I walked into the room in the morning – and then, good evening. And he was very polite.DUKAKIS: Ryan's creator, Mohammad Mahoor, an AI expert at the University of Denver, says, The robot's designed to be entertaining and educational. But what's most important is the robot's ability to respond to people's emotions.MOHAMMAD MAHOOR: So if, for example, ask Ryan or tell Ryan that, you know, I lost my cat or something's going on in my life, Ryan would try to empathize with you, to tell you that – what's going on in your life? How can I help you with your feeling?DUKAKIS: Sarah Schoeder at Eaton Senior Communities was a skeptic but now calls the robot a game changer. One resident, Katie, who was depressed and had mild dementia, roomed with the robot. Ryan reminded her to take her medications and go to therapy. It was also Katie's companion.SARAH SCHOEDER: Katie was so much happier with Ryan. She loved to share the stories of their conversations. It was really Katie's experience that made me understand that this technology was very much needed.DUKAKIS: Schoeder, a former nurse, thinks of Ryan as an extra hand.SCHOEDER: I don't see Ryan replacing me as a medical professional. He's just allowing me to do my job and do it better because I now have someone that can help.DUKAKIS: In a different project, computer science professor Maja Mataric at the University of Southern California had a team leave socially assistive robots in elderly people's homes to keep them from sitting too much. The robot would tell them jokes and do a dance with them.MAJA MATARIC: Within a couple of days, people would sort of anticipate when the robot was going to tell them to stand up and they would preempt it. They would stand up and be like, hey, I'm standing. And then they would get an extra joke. And they were so sad when we had to take the robot back.DUKAKIS: Mataric laments, a lot of research funding goes to designing robots that do physical tasks humans don't want to do, instead of ones that offer social support.For NPR News, I'm Andrea Dukakis in Denver.(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)Copyright © 2025 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our websiteterms of useandpermissionspages atwww.npr.orgfor further information.Accuracy and availability of NPR transcripts may vary. Transcript text may be revised to correct errors or match updates to audio. Audio on npr.org may be edited after its original broadcast or publication. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

RYAN: We will start by reaching our arms forward, then pulling our arms back.DUKAKIS: Resident Steve Auten says he enjoyed the yoga and feels a special connection to the robot, which spent two months in Auten's room.STEVE AUTEN: We talked a lot. We played games. And, you know, he'd say, good morning, Steve, every time I walked into the room in the morning – and then, good evening. And he was very polite.DUKAKIS: Ryan's creator, Mohammad Mahoor, an AI expert at the University of Denver, says, The robot's designed to be entertaining and educational. But what's most important is the robot's ability to respond to people's emotions.MOHAMMAD MAHOOR: So if, for example, ask Ryan or tell Ryan that, you know, I lost my cat or something's going on in my life, Ryan would try to empathize with you, to tell you that – what's going on in your life? How can I help you with your feeling?DUKAKIS: Sarah Schoeder at Eaton Senior Communities was a skeptic but now calls the robot a game changer. One resident, Katie, who was depressed and had mild dementia, roomed with the robot. Ryan reminded her to take her medications and go to therapy. It was also Katie's companion.SARAH SCHOEDER: Katie was so much happier with Ryan. She loved to share the stories of their conversations. It was really Katie's experience that made me understand that this technology was very much needed.DUKAKIS: Schoeder, a former nurse, thinks of Ryan as an extra hand.SCHOEDER: I don't see Ryan replacing me as a medical professional. He's just allowing me to do my job and do it better because I now have someone that can help.DUKAKIS: In a different project, computer science professor Maja Mataric at the University of Southern California had a team leave socially assistive robots in elderly people's homes to keep them from sitting too much. The robot would tell them jokes and do a dance with them.MAJA MATARIC: Within a couple of days, people would sort of anticipate when the robot was going to tell them to stand up and they would preempt it. They would stand up and be like, hey, I'm standing. And then they would get an extra joke. And they were so sad when we had to take the robot back.DUKAKIS: Mataric laments, a lot of research funding goes to designing robots that do physical tasks humans don't want to do, instead of ones that offer social support.For NPR News, I'm Andrea Dukakis in Denver.(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)Copyright © 2025 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our websiteterms of useandpermissionspages atwww.npr.orgfor further information.Accuracy and availability of NPR transcripts may vary. Transcript text may be revised to correct errors or match updates to audio. Audio on npr.org may be edited after its original broadcast or publication. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

RYAN: We will start by reaching our arms forward, then pulling our arms back.DUKAKIS: Resident Steve Auten says he enjoyed the yoga and feels a special connection to the robot, which spent two months in Auten's room.STEVE AUTEN: We talked a lot. We played games. And, you know, he'd say, good morning, Steve, every time I walked into the room in the morning – and then, good evening. And he was very polite.DUKAKIS: Ryan's creator, Mohammad Mahoor, an AI expert at the University of Denver, says, The robot's designed to be entertaining and educational. But what's most important is the robot's ability to respond to people's emotions.MOHAMMAD MAHOOR: So if, for example, ask Ryan or tell Ryan that, you know, I lost my cat or something's going on in my life, Ryan would try to empathize with you, to tell you that – what's going on in your life? How can I help you with your feeling?DUKAKIS: Sarah Schoeder at Eaton Senior Communities was a skeptic but now calls the robot a game changer. One resident, Katie, who was depressed and had mild dementia, roomed with the robot. Ryan reminded her to take her medications and go to therapy. It was also Katie's companion.SARAH SCHOEDER: Katie was so much happier with Ryan. She loved to share the stories of their conversations. It was really Katie's experience that made me understand that this technology was very much needed.DUKAKIS: Schoeder, a former nurse, thinks of Ryan as an extra hand.SCHOEDER: I don't see Ryan replacing me as a medical professional. He's just allowing me to do my job and do it better because I now have someone that can help.DUKAKIS: In a different project, computer science professor Maja Mataric at the University of Southern California had a team leave socially assistive robots in elderly people's homes to keep them from sitting too much. The robot would tell them jokes and do a dance with them.MAJA MATARIC: Within a couple of days, people would sort of anticipate when the robot was going to tell them to stand up and they would preempt it. They would stand up and be like, hey, I'm standing. And then they would get an extra joke. And they were so sad when we had to take the robot back.DUKAKIS: Mataric laments, a lot of research funding goes to designing robots that do physical tasks humans don't want to do, instead of ones that offer social support.For NPR News, I'm Andrea Dukakis in Denver.(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)Copyright © 2025 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our websiteterms of useandpermissionspages atwww.npr.orgfor further information.Accuracy and availability of NPR transcripts may vary. Transcript text may be revised to correct errors or match updates to audio. Audio on npr.org may be edited after its original broadcast or publication. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

DUKAKIS: Resident Steve Auten says he enjoyed the yoga and feels a special connection to the robot, which spent two months in Auten's room.STEVE AUTEN: We talked a lot. We played games. And, you know, he'd say, good morning, Steve, every time I walked into the room in the morning – and then, good evening. And he was very polite.DUKAKIS: Ryan's creator, Mohammad Mahoor, an AI expert at the University of Denver, says, The robot's designed to be entertaining and educational. But what's most important is the robot's ability to respond to people's emotions.MOHAMMAD MAHOOR: So if, for example, ask Ryan or tell Ryan that, you know, I lost my cat or something's going on in my life, Ryan would try to empathize with you, to tell you that – what's going on in your life? How can I help you with your feeling?DUKAKIS: Sarah Schoeder at Eaton Senior Communities was a skeptic but now calls the robot a game changer. One resident, Katie, who was depressed and had mild dementia, roomed with the robot. Ryan reminded her to take her medications and go to therapy. It was also Katie's companion.SARAH SCHOEDER: Katie was so much happier with Ryan. She loved to share the stories of their conversations. It was really Katie's experience that made me understand that this technology was very much needed.DUKAKIS: Schoeder, a former nurse, thinks of Ryan as an extra hand.SCHOEDER: I don't see Ryan replacing me as a medical professional. He's just allowing me to do my job and do it better because I now have someone that can help.DUKAKIS: In a different project, computer science professor Maja Mataric at the University of Southern California had a team leave socially assistive robots in elderly people's homes to keep them from sitting too much. The robot would tell them jokes and do a dance with them.MAJA MATARIC: Within a couple of days, people would sort of anticipate when the robot was going to tell them to stand up and they would preempt it. They would stand up and be like, hey, I'm standing. And then they would get an extra joke. And they were so sad when we had to take the robot back.DUKAKIS: Mataric laments, a lot of research funding goes to designing robots that do physical tasks humans don't want to do, instead of ones that offer social support.For NPR News, I'm Andrea Dukakis in Denver.(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)Copyright © 2025 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our websiteterms of useandpermissionspages atwww.npr.orgfor further information.Accuracy and availability of NPR transcripts may vary. Transcript text may be revised to correct errors or match updates to audio. Audio on npr.org may be edited after its original broadcast or publication. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

DUKAKIS: Resident Steve Auten says he enjoyed the yoga and feels a special connection to the robot, which spent two months in Auten's room.STEVE AUTEN: We talked a lot. We played games. And, you know, he'd say, good morning, Steve, every time I walked into the room in the morning – and then, good evening. And he was very polite.DUKAKIS: Ryan's creator, Mohammad Mahoor, an AI expert at the University of Denver, says, The robot's designed to be entertaining and educational. But what's most important is the robot's ability to respond to people's emotions.MOHAMMAD MAHOOR: So if, for example, ask Ryan or tell Ryan that, you know, I lost my cat or something's going on in my life, Ryan would try to empathize with you, to tell you that – what's going on in your life? How can I help you with your feeling?DUKAKIS: Sarah Schoeder at Eaton Senior Communities was a skeptic but now calls the robot a game changer. One resident, Katie, who was depressed and had mild dementia, roomed with the robot. Ryan reminded her to take her medications and go to therapy. It was also Katie's companion.SARAH SCHOEDER: Katie was so much happier with Ryan. She loved to share the stories of their conversations. It was really Katie's experience that made me understand that this technology was very much needed.DUKAKIS: Schoeder, a former nurse, thinks of Ryan as an extra hand.SCHOEDER: I don't see Ryan replacing me as a medical professional. He's just allowing me to do my job and do it better because I now have someone that can help.DUKAKIS: In a different project, computer science professor Maja Mataric at the University of Southern California had a team leave socially assistive robots in elderly people's homes to keep them from sitting too much. The robot would tell them jokes and do a dance with them.MAJA MATARIC: Within a couple of days, people would sort of anticipate when the robot was going to tell them to stand up and they would preempt it. They would stand up and be like, hey, I'm standing. And then they would get an extra joke. And they were so sad when we had to take the robot back.DUKAKIS: Mataric laments, a lot of research funding goes to designing robots that do physical tasks humans don't want to do, instead of ones that offer social support.For NPR News, I'm Andrea Dukakis in Denver.(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)Copyright © 2025 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our websiteterms of useandpermissionspages atwww.npr.orgfor further information.Accuracy and availability of NPR transcripts may vary. Transcript text may be revised to correct errors or match updates to audio. Audio on npr.org may be edited after its original broadcast or publication. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

STEVE AUTEN: We talked a lot. We played games. And, you know, he'd say, good morning, Steve, every time I walked into the room in the morning – and then, good evening. And he was very polite.DUKAKIS: Ryan's creator, Mohammad Mahoor, an AI expert at the University of Denver, says, The robot's designed to be entertaining and educational. But what's most important is the robot's ability to respond to people's emotions.MOHAMMAD MAHOOR: So if, for example, ask Ryan or tell Ryan that, you know, I lost my cat or something's going on in my life, Ryan would try to empathize with you, to tell you that – what's going on in your life? How can I help you with your feeling?DUKAKIS: Sarah Schoeder at Eaton Senior Communities was a skeptic but now calls the robot a game changer. One resident, Katie, who was depressed and had mild dementia, roomed with the robot. Ryan reminded her to take her medications and go to therapy. It was also Katie's companion.SARAH SCHOEDER: Katie was so much happier with Ryan. She loved to share the stories of their conversations. It was really Katie's experience that made me understand that this technology was very much needed.DUKAKIS: Schoeder, a former nurse, thinks of Ryan as an extra hand.SCHOEDER: I don't see Ryan replacing me as a medical professional. He's just allowing me to do my job and do it better because I now have someone that can help.DUKAKIS: In a different project, computer science professor Maja Mataric at the University of Southern California had a team leave socially assistive robots in elderly people's homes to keep them from sitting too much. The robot would tell them jokes and do a dance with them.MAJA MATARIC: Within a couple of days, people would sort of anticipate when the robot was going to tell them to stand up and they would preempt it. They would stand up and be like, hey, I'm standing. And then they would get an extra joke. And they were so sad when we had to take the robot back.DUKAKIS: Mataric laments, a lot of research funding goes to designing robots that do physical tasks humans don't want to do, instead of ones that offer social support.For NPR News, I'm Andrea Dukakis in Denver.(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)Copyright © 2025 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our websiteterms of useandpermissionspages atwww.npr.orgfor further information.Accuracy and availability of NPR transcripts may vary. Transcript text may be revised to correct errors or match updates to audio. Audio on npr.org may be edited after its original broadcast or publication. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

STEVE AUTEN: We talked a lot. We played games. And, you know, he'd say, good morning, Steve, every time I walked into the room in the morning – and then, good evening. And he was very polite.DUKAKIS: Ryan's creator, Mohammad Mahoor, an AI expert at the University of Denver, says, The robot's designed to be entertaining and educational. But what's most important is the robot's ability to respond to people's emotions.MOHAMMAD MAHOOR: So if, for example, ask Ryan or tell Ryan that, you know, I lost my cat or something's going on in my life, Ryan would try to empathize with you, to tell you that – what's going on in your life? How can I help you with your feeling?DUKAKIS: Sarah Schoeder at Eaton Senior Communities was a skeptic but now calls the robot a game changer. One resident, Katie, who was depressed and had mild dementia, roomed with the robot. Ryan reminded her to take her medications and go to therapy. It was also Katie's companion.SARAH SCHOEDER: Katie was so much happier with Ryan. She loved to share the stories of their conversations. It was really Katie's experience that made me understand that this technology was very much needed.DUKAKIS: Schoeder, a former nurse, thinks of Ryan as an extra hand.SCHOEDER: I don't see Ryan replacing me as a medical professional. He's just allowing me to do my job and do it better because I now have someone that can help.DUKAKIS: In a different project, computer science professor Maja Mataric at the University of Southern California had a team leave socially assistive robots in elderly people's homes to keep them from sitting too much. The robot would tell them jokes and do a dance with them.MAJA MATARIC: Within a couple of days, people would sort of anticipate when the robot was going to tell them to stand up and they would preempt it. They would stand up and be like, hey, I'm standing. And then they would get an extra joke. And they were so sad when we had to take the robot back.DUKAKIS: Mataric laments, a lot of research funding goes to designing robots that do physical tasks humans don't want to do, instead of ones that offer social support.For NPR News, I'm Andrea Dukakis in Denver.(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)Copyright © 2025 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our websiteterms of useandpermissionspages atwww.npr.orgfor further information.Accuracy and availability of NPR transcripts may vary. Transcript text may be revised to correct errors or match updates to audio. Audio on npr.org may be edited after its original broadcast or publication. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

DUKAKIS: Ryan's creator, Mohammad Mahoor, an AI expert at the University of Denver, says, The robot's designed to be entertaining and educational. But what's most important is the robot's ability to respond to people's emotions.MOHAMMAD MAHOOR: So if, for example, ask Ryan or tell Ryan that, you know, I lost my cat or something's going on in my life, Ryan would try to empathize with you, to tell you that – what's going on in your life? How can I help you with your feeling?DUKAKIS: Sarah Schoeder at Eaton Senior Communities was a skeptic but now calls the robot a game changer. One resident, Katie, who was depressed and had mild dementia, roomed with the robot. Ryan reminded her to take her medications and go to therapy. It was also Katie's companion.SARAH SCHOEDER: Katie was so much happier with Ryan. She loved to share the stories of their conversations. It was really Katie's experience that made me understand that this technology was very much needed.DUKAKIS: Schoeder, a former nurse, thinks of Ryan as an extra hand.SCHOEDER: I don't see Ryan replacing me as a medical professional. He's just allowing me to do my job and do it better because I now have someone that can help.DUKAKIS: In a different project, computer science professor Maja Mataric at the University of Southern California had a team leave socially assistive robots in elderly people's homes to keep them from sitting too much. The robot would tell them jokes and do a dance with them.MAJA MATARIC: Within a couple of days, people would sort of anticipate when the robot was going to tell them to stand up and they would preempt it. They would stand up and be like, hey, I'm standing. And then they would get an extra joke. And they were so sad when we had to take the robot back.DUKAKIS: Mataric laments, a lot of research funding goes to designing robots that do physical tasks humans don't want to do, instead of ones that offer social support.For NPR News, I'm Andrea Dukakis in Denver.(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)Copyright © 2025 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our websiteterms of useandpermissionspages atwww.npr.orgfor further information.Accuracy and availability of NPR transcripts may vary. Transcript text may be revised to correct errors or match updates to audio. Audio on npr.org may be edited after its original broadcast or publication. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

DUKAKIS: Ryan's creator, Mohammad Mahoor, an AI expert at the University of Denver, says, The robot's designed to be entertaining and educational. But what's most important is the robot's ability to respond to people's emotions.MOHAMMAD MAHOOR: So if, for example, ask Ryan or tell Ryan that, you know, I lost my cat or something's going on in my life, Ryan would try to empathize with you, to tell you that – what's going on in your life? How can I help you with your feeling?DUKAKIS: Sarah Schoeder at Eaton Senior Communities was a skeptic but now calls the robot a game changer. One resident, Katie, who was depressed and had mild dementia, roomed with the robot. Ryan reminded her to take her medications and go to therapy. It was also Katie's companion.SARAH SCHOEDER: Katie was so much happier with Ryan. She loved to share the stories of their conversations. It was really Katie's experience that made me understand that this technology was very much needed.DUKAKIS: Schoeder, a former nurse, thinks of Ryan as an extra hand.SCHOEDER: I don't see Ryan replacing me as a medical professional. He's just allowing me to do my job and do it better because I now have someone that can help.DUKAKIS: In a different project, computer science professor Maja Mataric at the University of Southern California had a team leave socially assistive robots in elderly people's homes to keep them from sitting too much. The robot would tell them jokes and do a dance with them.MAJA MATARIC: Within a couple of days, people would sort of anticipate when the robot was going to tell them to stand up and they would preempt it. They would stand up and be like, hey, I'm standing. And then they would get an extra joke. And they were so sad when we had to take the robot back.DUKAKIS: Mataric laments, a lot of research funding goes to designing robots that do physical tasks humans don't want to do, instead of ones that offer social support.For NPR News, I'm Andrea Dukakis in Denver.(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)Copyright © 2025 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our websiteterms of useandpermissionspages atwww.npr.orgfor further information.Accuracy and availability of NPR transcripts may vary. Transcript text may be revised to correct errors or match updates to audio. Audio on npr.org may be edited after its original broadcast or publication. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

MOHAMMAD MAHOOR: So if, for example, ask Ryan or tell Ryan that, you know, I lost my cat or something's going on in my life, Ryan would try to empathize with you, to tell you that – what's going on in your life? How can I help you with your feeling?DUKAKIS: Sarah Schoeder at Eaton Senior Communities was a skeptic but now calls the robot a game changer. One resident, Katie, who was depressed and had mild dementia, roomed with the robot. Ryan reminded her to take her medications and go to therapy. It was also Katie's companion.SARAH SCHOEDER: Katie was so much happier with Ryan. She loved to share the stories of their conversations. It was really Katie's experience that made me understand that this technology was very much needed.DUKAKIS: Schoeder, a former nurse, thinks of Ryan as an extra hand.SCHOEDER: I don't see Ryan replacing me as a medical professional. He's just allowing me to do my job and do it better because I now have someone that can help.DUKAKIS: In a different project, computer science professor Maja Mataric at the University of Southern California had a team leave socially assistive robots in elderly people's homes to keep them from sitting too much. The robot would tell them jokes and do a dance with them.MAJA MATARIC: Within a couple of days, people would sort of anticipate when the robot was going to tell them to stand up and they would preempt it. They would stand up and be like, hey, I'm standing. And then they would get an extra joke. And they were so sad when we had to take the robot back.DUKAKIS: Mataric laments, a lot of research funding goes to designing robots that do physical tasks humans don't want to do, instead of ones that offer social support.For NPR News, I'm Andrea Dukakis in Denver.(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)Copyright © 2025 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our websiteterms of useandpermissionspages atwww.npr.orgfor further information.Accuracy and availability of NPR transcripts may vary. Transcript text may be revised to correct errors or match updates to audio. Audio on npr.org may be edited after its original broadcast or publication. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

MOHAMMAD MAHOOR: So if, for example, ask Ryan or tell Ryan that, you know, I lost my cat or something's going on in my life, Ryan would try to empathize with you, to tell you that – what's going on in your life? How can I help you with your feeling?DUKAKIS: Sarah Schoeder at Eaton Senior Communities was a skeptic but now calls the robot a game changer. One resident, Katie, who was depressed and had mild dementia, roomed with the robot. Ryan reminded her to take her medications and go to therapy. It was also Katie's companion.SARAH SCHOEDER: Katie was so much happier with Ryan. She loved to share the stories of their conversations. It was really Katie's experience that made me understand that this technology was very much needed.DUKAKIS: Schoeder, a former nurse, thinks of Ryan as an extra hand.SCHOEDER: I don't see Ryan replacing me as a medical professional. He's just allowing me to do my job and do it better because I now have someone that can help.DUKAKIS: In a different project, computer science professor Maja Mataric at the University of Southern California had a team leave socially assistive robots in elderly people's homes to keep them from sitting too much. The robot would tell them jokes and do a dance with them.MAJA MATARIC: Within a couple of days, people would sort of anticipate when the robot was going to tell them to stand up and they would preempt it. They would stand up and be like, hey, I'm standing. And then they would get an extra joke. And they were so sad when we had to take the robot back.DUKAKIS: Mataric laments, a lot of research funding goes to designing robots that do physical tasks humans don't want to do, instead of ones that offer social support.For NPR News, I'm Andrea Dukakis in Denver.(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)Copyright © 2025 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our websiteterms of useandpermissionspages atwww.npr.orgfor further information.Accuracy and availability of NPR transcripts may vary. Transcript text may be revised to correct errors or match updates to audio. Audio on npr.org may be edited after its original broadcast or publication. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

DUKAKIS: Sarah Schoeder at Eaton Senior Communities was a skeptic but now calls the robot a game changer. One resident, Katie, who was depressed and had mild dementia, roomed with the robot. Ryan reminded her to take her medications and go to therapy. It was also Katie's companion.SARAH SCHOEDER: Katie was so much happier with Ryan. She loved to share the stories of their conversations. It was really Katie's experience that made me understand that this technology was very much needed.DUKAKIS: Schoeder, a former nurse, thinks of Ryan as an extra hand.SCHOEDER: I don't see Ryan replacing me as a medical professional. He's just allowing me to do my job and do it better because I now have someone that can help.DUKAKIS: In a different project, computer science professor Maja Mataric at the University of Southern California had a team leave socially assistive robots in elderly people's homes to keep them from sitting too much. The robot would tell them jokes and do a dance with them.MAJA MATARIC: Within a couple of days, people would sort of anticipate when the robot was going to tell them to stand up and they would preempt it. They would stand up and be like, hey, I'm standing. And then they would get an extra joke. And they were so sad when we had to take the robot back.DUKAKIS: Mataric laments, a lot of research funding goes to designing robots that do physical tasks humans don't want to do, instead of ones that offer social support.For NPR News, I'm Andrea Dukakis in Denver.(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)Copyright © 2025 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our websiteterms of useandpermissionspages atwww.npr.orgfor further information.Accuracy and availability of NPR transcripts may vary. Transcript text may be revised to correct errors or match updates to audio. Audio on npr.org may be edited after its original broadcast or publication. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

DUKAKIS: Sarah Schoeder at Eaton Senior Communities was a skeptic but now calls the robot a game changer. One resident, Katie, who was depressed and had mild dementia, roomed with the robot. Ryan reminded her to take her medications and go to therapy. It was also Katie's companion.SARAH SCHOEDER: Katie was so much happier with Ryan. She loved to share the stories of their conversations. It was really Katie's experience that made me understand that this technology was very much needed.DUKAKIS: Schoeder, a former nurse, thinks of Ryan as an extra hand.SCHOEDER: I don't see Ryan replacing me as a medical professional. He's just allowing me to do my job and do it better because I now have someone that can help.DUKAKIS: In a different project, computer science professor Maja Mataric at the University of Southern California had a team leave socially assistive robots in elderly people's homes to keep them from sitting too much. The robot would tell them jokes and do a dance with them.MAJA MATARIC: Within a couple of days, people would sort of anticipate when the robot was going to tell them to stand up and they would preempt it. They would stand up and be like, hey, I'm standing. And then they would get an extra joke. And they were so sad when we had to take the robot back.DUKAKIS: Mataric laments, a lot of research funding goes to designing robots that do physical tasks humans don't want to do, instead of ones that offer social support.For NPR News, I'm Andrea Dukakis in Denver.(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)Copyright © 2025 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our websiteterms of useandpermissionspages atwww.npr.orgfor further information.Accuracy and availability of NPR transcripts may vary. Transcript text may be revised to correct errors or match updates to audio. Audio on npr.org may be edited after its original broadcast or publication. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

SARAH SCHOEDER: Katie was so much happier with Ryan. She loved to share the stories of their conversations. It was really Katie's experience that made me understand that this technology was very much needed.DUKAKIS: Schoeder, a former nurse, thinks of Ryan as an extra hand.SCHOEDER: I don't see Ryan replacing me as a medical professional. He's just allowing me to do my job and do it better because I now have someone that can help.DUKAKIS: In a different project, computer science professor Maja Mataric at the University of Southern California had a team leave socially assistive robots in elderly people's homes to keep them from sitting too much. The robot would tell them jokes and do a dance with them.MAJA MATARIC: Within a couple of days, people would sort of anticipate when the robot was going to tell them to stand up and they would preempt it. They would stand up and be like, hey, I'm standing. And then they would get an extra joke. And they were so sad when we had to take the robot back.DUKAKIS: Mataric laments, a lot of research funding goes to designing robots that do physical tasks humans don't want to do, instead of ones that offer social support.For NPR News, I'm Andrea Dukakis in Denver.(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)Copyright © 2025 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our websiteterms of useandpermissionspages atwww.npr.orgfor further information.Accuracy and availability of NPR transcripts may vary. Transcript text may be revised to correct errors or match updates to audio. Audio on npr.org may be edited after its original broadcast or publication. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

SARAH SCHOEDER: Katie was so much happier with Ryan. She loved to share the stories of their conversations. It was really Katie's experience that made me understand that this technology was very much needed.DUKAKIS: Schoeder, a former nurse, thinks of Ryan as an extra hand.SCHOEDER: I don't see Ryan replacing me as a medical professional. He's just allowing me to do my job and do it better because I now have someone that can help.DUKAKIS: In a different project, computer science professor Maja Mataric at the University of Southern California had a team leave socially assistive robots in elderly people's homes to keep them from sitting too much. The robot would tell them jokes and do a dance with them.MAJA MATARIC: Within a couple of days, people would sort of anticipate when the robot was going to tell them to stand up and they would preempt it. They would stand up and be like, hey, I'm standing. And then they would get an extra joke. And they were so sad when we had to take the robot back.DUKAKIS: Mataric laments, a lot of research funding goes to designing robots that do physical tasks humans don't want to do, instead of ones that offer social support.For NPR News, I'm Andrea Dukakis in Denver.(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)Copyright © 2025 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our websiteterms of useandpermissionspages atwww.npr.orgfor further information.Accuracy and availability of NPR transcripts may vary. Transcript text may be revised to correct errors or match updates to audio. Audio on npr.org may be edited after its original broadcast or publication. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

DUKAKIS: Schoeder, a former nurse, thinks of Ryan as an extra hand.SCHOEDER: I don't see Ryan replacing me as a medical professional. He's just allowing me to do my job and do it better because I now have someone that can help.DUKAKIS: In a different project, computer science professor Maja Mataric at the University of Southern California had a team leave socially assistive robots in elderly people's homes to keep them from sitting too much. The robot would tell them jokes and do a dance with them.MAJA MATARIC: Within a couple of days, people would sort of anticipate when the robot was going to tell them to stand up and they would preempt it. They would stand up and be like, hey, I'm standing. And then they would get an extra joke. And they were so sad when we had to take the robot back.DUKAKIS: Mataric laments, a lot of research funding goes to designing robots that do physical tasks humans don't want to do, instead of ones that offer social support.For NPR News, I'm Andrea Dukakis in Denver.(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)Copyright © 2025 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our websiteterms of useandpermissionspages atwww.npr.orgfor further information.Accuracy and availability of NPR transcripts may vary. Transcript text may be revised to correct errors or match updates to audio. Audio on npr.org may be edited after its original broadcast or publication. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

DUKAKIS: Schoeder, a former nurse, thinks of Ryan as an extra hand.SCHOEDER: I don't see Ryan replacing me as a medical professional. He's just allowing me to do my job and do it better because I now have someone that can help.DUKAKIS: In a different project, computer science professor Maja Mataric at the University of Southern California had a team leave socially assistive robots in elderly people's homes to keep them from sitting too much. The robot would tell them jokes and do a dance with them.MAJA MATARIC: Within a couple of days, people would sort of anticipate when the robot was going to tell them to stand up and they would preempt it. They would stand up and be like, hey, I'm standing. And then they would get an extra joke. And they were so sad when we had to take the robot back.DUKAKIS: Mataric laments, a lot of research funding goes to designing robots that do physical tasks humans don't want to do, instead of ones that offer social support.For NPR News, I'm Andrea Dukakis in Denver.(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)Copyright © 2025 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our websiteterms of useandpermissionspages atwww.npr.orgfor further information.Accuracy and availability of NPR transcripts may vary. Transcript text may be revised to correct errors or match updates to audio. Audio on npr.org may be edited after its original broadcast or publication. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

SCHOEDER: I don't see Ryan replacing me as a medical professional. He's just allowing me to do my job and do it better because I now have someone that can help.DUKAKIS: In a different project, computer science professor Maja Mataric at the University of Southern California had a team leave socially assistive robots in elderly people's homes to keep them from sitting too much. The robot would tell them jokes and do a dance with them.MAJA MATARIC: Within a couple of days, people would sort of anticipate when the robot was going to tell them to stand up and they would preempt it. They would stand up and be like, hey, I'm standing. And then they would get an extra joke. And they were so sad when we had to take the robot back.DUKAKIS: Mataric laments, a lot of research funding goes to designing robots that do physical tasks humans don't want to do, instead of ones that offer social support.For NPR News, I'm Andrea Dukakis in Denver.(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)Copyright © 2025 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our websiteterms of useandpermissionspages atwww.npr.orgfor further information.Accuracy and availability of NPR transcripts may vary. Transcript text may be revised to correct errors or match updates to audio. Audio on npr.org may be edited after its original broadcast or publication. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

SCHOEDER: I don't see Ryan replacing me as a medical professional. He's just allowing me to do my job and do it better because I now have someone that can help.DUKAKIS: In a different project, computer science professor Maja Mataric at the University of Southern California had a team leave socially assistive robots in elderly people's homes to keep them from sitting too much. The robot would tell them jokes and do a dance with them.MAJA MATARIC: Within a couple of days, people would sort of anticipate when the robot was going to tell them to stand up and they would preempt it. They would stand up and be like, hey, I'm standing. And then they would get an extra joke. And they were so sad when we had to take the robot back.DUKAKIS: Mataric laments, a lot of research funding goes to designing robots that do physical tasks humans don't want to do, instead of ones that offer social support.For NPR News, I'm Andrea Dukakis in Denver.(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)Copyright © 2025 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our websiteterms of useandpermissionspages atwww.npr.orgfor further information.Accuracy and availability of NPR transcripts may vary. Transcript text may be revised to correct errors or match updates to audio. Audio on npr.org may be edited after its original broadcast or publication. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

DUKAKIS: In a different project, computer science professor Maja Mataric at the University of Southern California had a team leave socially assistive robots in elderly people's homes to keep them from sitting too much. The robot would tell them jokes and do a dance with them.MAJA MATARIC: Within a couple of days, people would sort of anticipate when the robot was going to tell them to stand up and they would preempt it. They would stand up and be like, hey, I'm standing. And then they would get an extra joke. And they were so sad when we had to take the robot back.DUKAKIS: Mataric laments, a lot of research funding goes to designing robots that do physical tasks humans don't want to do, instead of ones that offer social support.For NPR News, I'm Andrea Dukakis in Denver.(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)Copyright © 2025 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our websiteterms of useandpermissionspages atwww.npr.orgfor further information.Accuracy and availability of NPR transcripts may vary. Transcript text may be revised to correct errors or match updates to audio. Audio on npr.org may be edited after its original broadcast or publication. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

DUKAKIS: In a different project, computer science professor Maja Mataric at the University of Southern California had a team leave socially assistive robots in elderly people's homes to keep them from sitting too much. The robot would tell them jokes and do a dance with them.MAJA MATARIC: Within a couple of days, people would sort of anticipate when the robot was going to tell them to stand up and they would preempt it. They would stand up and be like, hey, I'm standing. And then they would get an extra joke. And they were so sad when we had to take the robot back.DUKAKIS: Mataric laments, a lot of research funding goes to designing robots that do physical tasks humans don't want to do, instead of ones that offer social support.For NPR News, I'm Andrea Dukakis in Denver.(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)Copyright © 2025 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our websiteterms of useandpermissionspages atwww.npr.orgfor further information.Accuracy and availability of NPR transcripts may vary. Transcript text may be revised to correct errors or match updates to audio. Audio on npr.org may be edited after its original broadcast or publication. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

MAJA MATARIC: Within a couple of days, people would sort of anticipate when the robot was going to tell them to stand up and they would preempt it. They would stand up and be like, hey, I'm standing. And then they would get an extra joke. And they were so sad when we had to take the robot back.DUKAKIS: Mataric laments, a lot of research funding goes to designing robots that do physical tasks humans don't want to do, instead of ones that offer social support.For NPR News, I'm Andrea Dukakis in Denver.(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)Copyright © 2025 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our websiteterms of useandpermissionspages atwww.npr.orgfor further information.Accuracy and availability of NPR transcripts may vary. Transcript text may be revised to correct errors or match updates to audio. Audio on npr.org may be edited after its original broadcast or publication. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

MAJA MATARIC: Within a couple of days, people would sort of anticipate when the robot was going to tell them to stand up and they would preempt it. They would stand up and be like, hey, I'm standing. And then they would get an extra joke. And they were so sad when we had to take the robot back.DUKAKIS: Mataric laments, a lot of research funding goes to designing robots that do physical tasks humans don't want to do, instead of ones that offer social support.For NPR News, I'm Andrea Dukakis in Denver.(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)Copyright © 2025 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our websiteterms of useandpermissionspages atwww.npr.orgfor further information.Accuracy and availability of NPR transcripts may vary. Transcript text may be revised to correct errors or match updates to audio. Audio on npr.org may be edited after its original broadcast or publication. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

DUKAKIS: Mataric laments, a lot of research funding goes to designing robots that do physical tasks humans don't want to do, instead of ones that offer social support.For NPR News, I'm Andrea Dukakis in Denver.(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)Copyright © 2025 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our websiteterms of useandpermissionspages atwww.npr.orgfor further information.Accuracy and availability of NPR transcripts may vary. Transcript text may be revised to correct errors or match updates to audio. Audio on npr.org may be edited after its original broadcast or publication. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

DUKAKIS: Mataric laments, a lot of research funding goes to designing robots that do physical tasks humans don't want to do, instead of ones that offer social support.For NPR News, I'm Andrea Dukakis in Denver.(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)Copyright © 2025 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our websiteterms of useandpermissionspages atwww.npr.orgfor further information.Accuracy and availability of NPR transcripts may vary. Transcript text may be revised to correct errors or match updates to audio. Audio on npr.org may be edited after its original broadcast or publication. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

For NPR News, I'm Andrea Dukakis in Denver.(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)Copyright © 2025 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our websiteterms of useandpermissionspages atwww.npr.orgfor further information.Accuracy and availability of NPR transcripts may vary. Transcript text may be revised to correct errors or match updates to audio. Audio on npr.org may be edited after its original broadcast or publication. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

For NPR News, I'm Andrea Dukakis in Denver.(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)Copyright © 2025 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our websiteterms of useandpermissionspages atwww.npr.orgfor further information.Accuracy and availability of NPR transcripts may vary. Transcript text may be revised to correct errors or match updates to audio. Audio on npr.org may be edited after its original broadcast or publication. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)Copyright © 2025 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our websiteterms of useandpermissionspages atwww.npr.orgfor further information.Accuracy and availability of NPR transcripts may vary. Transcript text may be revised to correct errors or match updates to audio. Audio on npr.org may be edited after its original broadcast or publication. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)Copyright © 2025 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our websiteterms of useandpermissionspages atwww.npr.orgfor further information.Accuracy and availability of NPR transcripts may vary. Transcript text may be revised to correct errors or match updates to audio. Audio on npr.org may be edited after its original broadcast or publication. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

Copyright © 2025 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our websiteterms of useandpermissionspages atwww.npr.orgfor further information.

Accuracy and availability of NPR transcripts may vary. Transcript text may be revised to correct errors or match updates to audio. Audio on npr.org may be edited after its original broadcast or publication. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.