Robotic Conversations.

An article in the Toronto Metro News of July 27 focused on Ludwig the Robot, a creation by researchers at the University of Toronto and the Toronto Rehabilitation Institute, headed by Frank Rudzicz, assistant professor of computer science.

Ludwig's function will be to converse with patients at a Toronto care centre who are suffering with Alzheimer's. As Rudzicz explained, "Ludwig assesses cognitive function continuously as he engages elderly residents in conversations and games. Each time he interacts with a patient, he learns how to do it better, by learning to recognize voices and ask follow up questions. Ludwig can converse about nearly anything, from news to sports, or a person's childhood. If the conversation gets derailed the robot is a of recovering or starting anew."

Since Ludwig is just off the assembly line it's too soon to know to what extent he will be effective. This may seem like a wonderful invention, but since we live under capitalism, monetary considerations cannot be overlooked.

It would seem like a new way to slow down Alzheimer's, but wouldn't it be better to find out if can be cured or, better still, prevented? One can be sure of one thing – that won't happen under capitalism. 

John Ayers.