Can Humanoid Robots Save Us from Loneliness? The Promise and Peril of Empathetic AI with Niv Sundaram of Machani Robotics

When machines master empathy, do humans forget how to feel?

In this episode of Your AI Injection, Deep Dhillon chats with Niv Sundaram of Machani Robotics to explore RIA, the humanoid companion designed to cultivate personalized, empathetic, meaningful conversations with patients. With 32 facial actuators, multimodal sensors, and therapy-trained LLMs, RIA is capable of reading subtle facial expressions and responds accordingly, helping alleviate the burnout experienced by overworked caregivers.

Deep and Niv also dive into the broader ethical implications of AI companions. If these machines excel at providing unconditional, positive support, will future generations lose the capacity for the challenging (but essential) work of human relationships? 

Learn more about Niv here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/niv-sundaram/

and Machani Robotics here: https://www.machanirobotics.com/

And check out some of our related episodes:

• AI and the Ethics of Influence: Exploring Synthetic Respondents & Decision-Making with Avi Yashchin of Subconscious AI
• How Senior Living Sales Get Personal Using AI with Samay Kohli of Budy
• Is AI the Missing Ingredient for Curbing Cravings? Emotional Eating Meets Machine Learning with Dr. Sera Lavelle