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

The 150-kg artificial intelligence-driven humanoid robot called AIREC is a prototype future ¡°caregiver¡± for Japan¡¯s rapidly aging population and chronic shortage of elder-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 Shigeki Sugano, the Waseda University professor leading AIREC¡¯s research with government funding.