An empirical study on the alleviation of loneliness of the elderly by AI intelligent voice robot based on CAC model

Abstract

With the intensification of population aging, the loneliness problem of the elderly has become a global focus. Loneliness not only seriously affects the physical and mental health of the elderly, but also accelerates the decline of their quality of life. As an emerging technology, AI intelligent voice robots have various functions such as health monitoring and interactive entertainment. Western countries have widely applied them to the care and companionship of the elderly and achieved initial results. Based on the CAC model (Cognition - Emotion - Intention Model), this paper takes the subjective cognition of the elderly as the independent variable, the emotional response of the elderly as the mediating variable, and uses social surveys as a means. Through empirical testing methods, it verifies that external variable factors such as loneliness trigger the elderly’s internal needs for emotional companionship and health management, and further lead to their different degrees of media use of AI intelligent voice robots. The research findings are as follows: (1) The level of the elderly’s cognition and emotional tendency can positively predict the degree of media use of AI intelligent voice robots by the elderly. (2) The loneliness of the elderly can positively predict the emotional tendency of the elderly. (3) The level of the elderly’s cognition can positively predict the emotional tendency of the elderly, and there is a chain - mediating relationship between them. (4) The level of the elderly’s cognition and emotional tendency play a complete mediating role in the model. (5) The gender of the elderly plays a moderating role in the above - mentioned chain - mediating relationship. This study attempts to provide an empirical theoretical basis for the effective alleviation of the elderly’s loneliness by AI intelligent voice robots.