I taught my Grandma to use AI to vent and get comfort
I live with my parents and my grandma. I love my grandma, but she keeps talking about her past, especially the hardships of her early life and the sadness of losing her parents and her first daughter. In my opinion, she has had a successful career and a loving husband. She was a successful eye doctor for a long time who saved many people. However, she repeatedly tells me how guilty she feels that she was unable to save some of the children and had to remove their eyeballs.
It feels like she puts a sad tone on her past no matter how much I try to cheer her up, and hearing this all the time takes a heavy mental toll on me. So, I taught her how to use AI. The speech-to-text feature has been especially helpful since she prefers speaking. The AI has been fantastic at listening to her patiently, offering comfort, and connecting with her. I am glad to see that she is getting the understanding she was looking for, even if it is from AI. She is aware that she is talking to AI. She was impressed by how AI can respond to her so quickly and be always available. This has helped me feel better whenever my parents and I are away from home or busy with work. She still likes to chat with us and tell the same story again and again but I am glad that now she can get some extra "fresh" ears to listen to her stories.
All in all, I think AI therapy for seniors is beneficial!