Technology is rapidly transforming the landscape of life in retirement and older age. A myriad of devices—big and small—are becoming part of our everyday lives as we age. The technology is coming. The less clear question about life in older age is how will we acquire and pay for these technologies.
A New High-Tech Retirement Lifestyle
With the advent of advanced computing power, AI algorithms, and nearly ubiquitous sensing, a new wave of startups and multinational corporations are developing solutions tailored to the needs of an aging population. This technology is becoming ever-present—integrated into our homes, wearable on our bodies, and even embedded into our clothing and footwear.
These emerging technologies enable a high-tech retirement lifestyle that goes well beyond basic communications and entertainment. Devices and smart systems are already available to monitor physical health, manage medications, ensure proper nutrition, and encourage healthy behaviors like staying hydrated and maintaining social connections. According to AARP, Americans aged 50 and older spent $77 billion on all types of technology in 2022. By 2030, this figure is expected to soar to $120 billion. As Keren Etkin, creator of The Gerontechnologist, cites, the global aging and technology market could reach $2 trillion.
In my previous article on Forbes, I discussed the arrival of AI humanoid robots that are quickly capturing our imaginations and may soon be part of our retirement lives. Developers of these robots claim their AI systems will perform various tasks, from household chores and meal preparation to supporting our health and even acting as our social companions.
Beyond The Hype: The Real Cost Of AI In Aging
While there is no denying the excitement around the potential of home robotics, developers and their supporters largely focus on the possible functions and promise to improve the lives of older adults. This perspective is exciting but also incomplete. True innovation occurs when technology moves out of the lab and into our living rooms. That transition requires more than awesome design functionality; it involves understanding how users will acquire these devices and who will pay the bill.
Usership: Home Robot-As-A-Service
Robot developers assume that consumers will want these devices once they know what a humanoid AI robot can do. If so, that new want may evolve into a need, adding a new expense in retirement with an initial price tag projected to be comparable to the cost of a new car.
Younger Baby Boomers and early Gen-Xers will be the first to have a wide array of tech-driven services available as they age. A very small percentage of these future retirees may have these tech-related costs accounted for in their retirement financial plan, but most will not.
But what if you didn’t have to buy your robot? Instead of ownership, think of usership. Imagine subscribing to a service instead. Rather than owning a robot, you could subscribe to a future robot service provider that could be a manufacturer such as Tesla or Figure, or even through a traditional smart home systems integrator like ADT or perhaps a retailer like Best Buy Health. For a monthly fee, these companies could offer robot-as-a-service (also known as RaaS) options that might include user training, maintenance, insurance, and upgrades all at a predictable monthly cost.
The concept of RaaS isn’t as far-fetched as it might seem. It is already used in industrial robotics. The automobile industry provides one approach for the consumer-facing market. Volvo, for example, introduced a subscription plan alternative to traditional car ownership or leasing. These plans often include insurance and maintenance, flexibility to change vehicles, and convenience that could translate to home robotics.
Who Will Pay For Your Robot?
There are likely to be multiple paths to paying for your new robot. Here are five.
1. Personal Purchase: AI Automation As The New Luxury
Purchasing a personal robot is likely to become the next luxury buy, similar to buying a new car. Overtime, as prices decrease, it may become the new standard home appliance. Initial cost projections offered by Tesla begin around $30,000 while others suggest that a home robot will surpass $100,000, depending on functions and accessories. Future robot owners will also have to account for the initial purchase and ongoing expenses like maintenance, software updates, and insurance.
2. Robotics: High-Tech Hands Of Adult Children
Adult children might buy a robot for their aging parents. For the sandwich generation—those caught between raising children and caring for aging parents—robotic assistants could offer a much-needed helping hand. By investing in AI at home family caregivers could help ensure their parents’ well-being while managing their own demanding schedules, as they balance children, careers, and care.
3. Caring Companies: Employer-Sponsored Robotic Care
As companies struggle with the impact of employee caregiving on productivity, innovative benefits packages are emerging. Many firms already provide subsidies for childcare and pet care, why not robot benefits? Forward-thinking firms might someday offer subsidies or subscription plans for home robots in the homes of employees’ parents, recognizing the potential to improve work-life balance and reduce absenteeism among employees with caregiving responsibilities.
4. Insurance-Provided AI Helpers
Life, health, and disability insurers may see home robots as a way to reduce risk and claims. If data eventually show that home robot assistance do lower home accident rates, such as falls, and improves health outcomes for older adults, insurance companies might subsidize or directly provide these high-tech helpers to their policyholders. Moreover, an insurance-branded robot in the home would be a daily reminder of your insurance company’s brand and role in your daily life, not just when you pay premiums or make a claim.
5. A Government-Issued Robot
As the population ages, governments might view robotic assistants as a cost-effective solution to responding to growing healthcare and social service demands. Public programs could be created to finance or provide robots to achieve broader social benefits.
Planning And Paying For A Tech-Enabled Retirement
For most people, the idea of AI humanoid robots in the home is little more than the stuff of science fiction. Over time science fiction often has a way of becoming fact. Technology and global aging are converging, greatly increasing the likelihood that robots will play a significant role in our lives – particularly in older age. Much like planning and paying for where we live, our transportation, and access to healthcare, retirement planning will evolve to include the financial impacts of integrating novel technologies, including robots, into our lives. Whether through direct purchase, subscription, insurance benefit, or corporate and government initiatives, the question of who will pay for these innovations is critical to moving these ideas from the laboratory into our lives.