Artificial intelligence (AI) is not the answer to solving loneliness which is becoming an increasingly important factor in physical and mental health.
Speaking at the Association of Medical Insurers and Intermediaries (AMII) Autumn Summit, Dr Rebecca Mansfield, a GP and medical adviser at Unum, told delegates that healthy relationships were one of the six pillars of lifestyle medicine alongside physical activity, restorative sleep, avoidance of misuse of risky substances, mental wellbeing and nutrition.
Mansfield explained that healthy relationships are social connections such as family, friends or community that bring meaning and purpose to life.
Elaborating on why this matters, she said: “Sadly 25% of adults report feeling lonely.
“And there is now growing evidence that social connection is essential for mental and physical health.
“A 2016 study showed that poor social relationships were related to over a 30% increase in heart disease and stroke.”
Tech companies cannot solve loneliness
Following on, Cubic Garden founder Ian Forrester criticised technology companies who think they can solve loneliness – singling out comments made by Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg.
Zuckerberg believes AI will fulfil people’s need for friends, Forrester noted.
“That scares me. That truly scares me and if that doesn’t send a chill down your spine, then I don’t know what to say,” he said.
Forrester added that this issue comes up again and again where tech thinks it can solve very important health issues with just AI.
“And everyone says this won’t work, but they still plough ahead anyway,” he continued.
But Forrester said he did think there could be some potential uses of AI.
“There is something around personalised healthcare when it comes to machine learning, so there are things that can be really useful, but the large language model – throw someone a content bot or a bot of some kind and they’ll be your friend is deeply worrying.”