Docuseek | Alice Cares

In order to meet future care demands for the elderly who are lonely and suffering from dementia, carebot Alice has been developed by SELEMCA, a research group from VU Amsterdam. Not just scientists but also health and social care professionals, they feed their collective experience into Alice by integrating a computer model of human social-emotional behavior into the robot, giving Alice the ability for moral reasoning and letting her learn from the user. The focus of her development is on creating software which can recognize human emotions, respond to those emotions, and have the robot display those emotions itself.

Alice the carebot is sent off to three elderly single women in assisted living facilities — Mrs. Remkes, Mrs. Schellekens-Blanke, an Mrs. van Wittmarschen— as a houseguest. Mrs. Remkes has not left her house in two weeks because the elevator is out of order. Mrs. van Wittmarschen is not very mobile and misses her only son who lives in Portugal. And former singer Mrs. Schellekens-Blanke’s outlook on life is a somber one now that her mobility is also getting more and more restricted. The women, their family and surrounding caregivers await the carebot's arrival with suspicion though. Can a robot build a human relationship with someone and provide similar benefits as a relationship with a person of flesh and blood? Will Alice be able to motivate the women to tackle their social isolation?

The outcome of the experiment is surprising for all involved. As Alice's visits continue, extraordinary and emotional scenes unfold. It doesn't take long for the women to lose their hearts to the robot and gradually abandon their initial reservations. As Alice learns more about the world and her new "friends", a glimpse of a new reality comes into existence for the three women tasked with teaching her humanity — one with less loneliness and worry, and consequently better health.

"Alice Cares is crafted to allow the viewer to perceive the subjects and research team as the pilot proceeds and draw their own conclusions without the input of expert interviews. The film flows with an unhurried, gentle attentiveness to detail that illustrates the poignant nobility of the elderly female subjects without patronizing them. Highly recommended especially for adult audiences interested in gerontology."
— Educational Media Reviews Online

"Fascinating documentary...A remarkable representation of how technology can be combined with human care to support seniors living independently...the content brings science and sentiment together in an exceptionally moving way."
— Variety

"Proves as unassumingly delightful as its eponymous, diminutive "care-robot". Touching lightly on social and technological themes that are increasingly relevant to nearly all industrialized societies, this quiet charmer bowed at Rotterdam ahead of its local release and deserves wider exposure via festivals and small-screen outlets...By the last scene many viewers will have warmed to the tiny 'droid in much the same way as the three elderly women: seeing 'her' being locked away in a cupboard evokes unexpected feelings of compassion."
— The Hollywood Reporter

"A compelling, sometimes heartbreaking, and in moral sense totally confusing documentary"
— International Film Festival Rotterdam

"Barely editorializing for a moment, this simple account of android life in the real world turns out to be the most profound, heartbreaking and morally challenging film about artificial intelligence yet."
— New Zealand International Film Festival

"A gripping and touching documentary that raises many questons."
— DOCVILLE

"This thought-provoking documentary captures the caregiver robot providing a surprising amount of interaction for mobility-challenged people who may otherwise go numerous days without seeing another person."
— The Georgia Straight

"Watching this documentary, you can't escape the thought that Alice also seems like a high-tech band-aid, that is trying to heal the impact of traumatic social transformations. One of the important questions is: to what extent should we leave the caring to robots?"
— Studium Generale, Universiteit Utrecht

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Main credits

Burger, Sander (film director)
Doolaard, Janneke (film producer)
Doolaard, Janneke (screenwriter)

Other credits

Cinematography, Sal Kroonenberg; editing, Manuel Rombley; music, Jeroen Arts, Pineapple Sound.

MARC Record See Worldcat record

Keywords

Elder Care,Technology,Dementia,Healthcare,Artificial Intelligence,Health; "Alice Cares"; The Video Project; "Ik ben Alice";

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Alice Cares

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