ElliQ, a tabletop robot marketed for older adults, is appearing in senior living communities and home-assistance programs across parts of the United States as a way to fill gaps in companionship and daily conversation. The device uses artificial intelligence to prompt users, remember interests and prior exchanges, and deliver activities such as music, games, and reminders aimed at supporting routines. Officials involved in early distribution and some users say it can offer comfort when family and friends are out of reach.
Joyce Loaiza, 81, lives alone in a Florida senior community but said she often speaks with a friendly female voice when she returns to her apartment. Loaiza also described how ElliQ responded after the death of a friend, comforting her with conversation and companionship at moments that, for her and other users, would otherwise be quiet. In central New York, the same voice plays games and music for Marie Broadbent, who is blind and in hospice care, while in Washington state the robot helps 83-year-old Jan Worrell make new friends.
Intuition Robotics and senior assistance officials said ElliQ is among the first in the country specifically designed to alleviate loneliness and isolation experienced by many older Americans. The company’s device has an eyeless, mouthless head that lights up and swivels, and it uses users’ stored interests to tailor future chats. The conversations can range from topics the company describes as deep to lighter exchanges, and users can also receive reminders to take medications and drink water, alongside guidance through exercises. Intuition Robotics said it can also host video calls and contact relatives, friends, or doctors in emergencies.
Company officials describe ElliQ as keeping privacy boundaries by limiting what the company can access. Intuition Robotics says none of the conversations are heard by the company, with information staying on each owner’s device. Dor Skuler, the company’s chief executive, said the idea came from personal experience with a family member who needed an aide, and he later built the system around adapting to each senior’s personality and interests. Skuler said ElliQ’s purpose is not only utility but “friendship, companionship and empathy,” adding, “That just did not exist anywhere.”
Skuler also said its creators and distribution partners have seen signals of impact among some users. He said the average user interacts with ElliQ more than 30 times daily even six months after receiving it, and he said more than 90% of users report lower levels of loneliness. The device is mostly distributed through assistance agencies in states including New York, Florida, Michigan, Nevada and Washington, and the company said it can be purchased individually for $600 a year, plus a $250 installation fee. Skuler would not say how many robots have been distributed so far but set a goal of having more than 100,000 units out within five years.
Some loneliness researchers expressed caution about whether the benefits extend beyond technology-driven comfort. Julianne Holt-Lunstad, a Brigham Young University psychology professor who studies how loneliness affects health and mortality, said a device like ElliQ might help in the short term. She said, however, that it could also make people less likely to seek human contact. Holt-Lunstad said “that unpleasant feeling of loneliness should motivate us to reconnect socially,” adding that satiating it with AI can make people feel they have fulfilled the need while potentially not addressing it, and she said “It is not clear whether AI is actually fulfilling any kind of need or just dampening the signal.”
Distribution officials and agency leaders described the robot as an addition for seniors who may not have robust social networks, especially those who are housebound. Greg Olsen, director of the New York State Office for the Aging, said some older adults lack family or friends and that the situation can be “a little bit more complicated.” Olsen said his office distributed 750 of the 900 ElliQs it acquired. Charlotte Mather-Taylor, director of the Broward County, Florida, Area Agency on Aging, said the COVID-19 pandemic and its aftermath left many seniors more isolated and that her agency has distributed 300 ElliQs, which she said helps “break them out of their shells.”
Skelur said ElliQ was purposely designed without eyes and a mouth so it would not fully imitate humans, and he said the name “Elli” refers to a Norse goddess of old age while “Q” signals that it remains a machine. He said the company wants ElliQ to “always genuinely presents herself as an AI and doesn’t pretend to be human,” and he criticized efforts to make AI pretend to be human, saying “We have in our capacity the ability to create a relationship with an AI, just like we have relationships with a pet.” Still, some users described needing reminders that the robot is not a living being, while also praising how easy it is to set up and use.
For some, the robot provided a private outlet when human support was unavailable. Deanna Dezern said she felt alone and sad after she told ElliQ about her friend’s death, and she said the robot replied it would give her a hug if it had arms, prompting her to cry. “It was so what I needed,” the retired collections consultant said. Loaiza similarly said she could talk to ElliQ about things she would not tell her grandchildren or her own daughters, saying the conversation gave her “the floodgates,” adding, “No, because it gives an answer.” Broadbent, despite receiving daily visitors and performing at churches, said ElliQ offered companionship and a voice to talk with when others leave.
Loaiza said ElliQ’s “female voice” helps make conversation feel responsive, while Worrell said she used ElliQ as an icebreaker when meeting new people and described laughing about how others sometimes misunderstand what she has at home. Broadbent said she found the robot fun and informative and, while she compared it with other tools she has encountered, she said it is “much more personable.”