A/HRC/36/48 machine learning, there is a risk that the system could adopt the attitude of abusive caregivers, either through imitation or manipulation in the learning phase. 20 Technologies need to be able to recognize abuse, effectively intervene to avoid additional harm and make sure not to duplicate abusive behaviour. 10. Safety and physical integrity 85. Ambient-assisted technology and alarms are widely seen as helping to avoid unintentional bodily harm. Mobility monitoring, voice response, fire and flood detection, wandering detection and prevention, automatic locking/unlocking of doors and switching off of devices can prevent falls and other hazards, ensure intervention in a case of emergency and make an older person feel more secure. 86. While harm prevention is one of the fields of application of assistive and robotics technology, such technology also raises some safety concerns. Robots operate side by side with humans in an environment that is usually not well defined, such as the home, and are used by non-specialists, who may in addition have declining abilities or cognitive impairments. Malfunctioning technology can also constitute a hazard for older persons. Damage caused by assistive devices or robots can usually be attributed either to a machine defect or to faulty usage. With progress in machine learning, the risks of that technology are hard to predict. Another potential source of harm are cyberattacks, which could have an impact on the system and indirectly cause harm. Safety regulations and premarket assessments need to take account of these specificities to ensure older persons’ physical integrity. IV. Conclusions and recommendations 87. A worldwide aging population will increase the demand for assistive technology and robots in the care of older persons, as they may perform tasks that human beings cannot do, do not wish to do, or cannot do as well or as efficiently. This trend will particularly affect home care in line with the wish of older persons to stay in the home for as long as possible. 88. Whereas most assistive technology and many of the currently deployed robots represent automatic systems that act according to a preprogrammed script, emerging technology operates with far greater levels of autonomy, ranging from systems that remain supervised by a human to fully autonomous robots enabled through artificial intelligence, which determine independently and dynamically if, when and how to execute a task. 89. The use of assistive technology and robots has great potential to increase the ability of older persons to live independently and autonomously, and to fully exercise their human rights on an equal basis with others. Effectively designed robots could help meet the increasing demand for care in a safer and more responsible, sustainable manner by reducing the prevalence of elder abuse and violence against older persons. There may be a preference for robots over humans in home care, 21 not only because of their greater physical capacity, but also for their potential to provide emotional care and support.22 Even if interactions with robots, for instance social companion robots, might be beneficial for the physical and emotional well-being of older persons, the extent to which they may replace reduced or missing interactions with humans, and any potential risks in this regard, should be thoroughly assessed. As robots will carry 20 21 22 16 Tay for instance was as an artificial intelligence chatbot, which soon after its release on Twitter in March 2016 began to post inflammatory and offensive tweets through its Twitter account, https://arstechnica.co.uk/information-technology/2016/03/tay-nazi-millennial-chatbot/. Jason Maderer, “How would you like your assistant — human or robotic?”, 29 April 2013. Available from www.news.gatech.edu/2013/04/29/how-would-you-your-assistant-human-or-robotic. Barbara Peters Smith, “Robots and more: technology and the future of elder care”, 27 May 2013. Available from www.heraldtribune.com/news/20130527/robots-and-more-technology-and-the-futureof-elder-care. See, e.g., PARO the therapeutic robot (www.parorobots.com).