Japan Looks to AI Robots as Need for Eldercare Workers Increases

Recently in Tokyo, an artificial intelligence-driven robot leaned over a man lying on his back, gently put a hand on his knee and another on his shoulder, and rolled him onto his side - a maneuver used to change diapers or prevent bedsores in the elderly.

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TOKYO -

The 150kg AI-driven humanoid robot called Airec is a prototype future "caregiver" for Japan's rapidly aging population amid a chronic shortage of aged-care workers.

"Given our highly advanced aging society and declining births, we will be needing robots' support for medical and elderly care, and in our daily lives," said Dr. Shigeki Sugano, the Waseda University professor leading Airec's research with government funding.

Japan is the world's most advanced aging society, with a falling birth rate, dwindling working-age population and restrictive immigration policies.

Its "baby boomer" generation, a bulging cohort created by a spike in post-war childbirths from 1947 to 1949, all turned at least 75 by the end of 2024, exacerbating the severe shortage of aged care workers.

The number of babies born in 2024 fell for a ninth straight year, by 5 percent to a record low of 720,988, data from Japan's Health Ministry showed on Feb. 27.

The nursing sector, meanwhile, is struggling to fill jobs.