CareTech: Disrupt the Recovery

In recent scanning, it was surprising to learn that half of the working people in the US moonlight as free caregivers at home. We are living in a “care crisis” according to BCG. One of the challenges is the shortage of home health care for seniors. But it’s not just elder care. Parents are struggling to find daycare and babysitters for children. People are having to do more to fill the gap of affordability and availability of professional support for young, old, or sick loved ones. It’s all part of what’s come to be known as the care economy.

What’s not surprising is that these trends disproportionally impact women negatively. Women comprise the majority of caregivers at home and in the caring professions. In low-paid caring jobs, burnout and turnover are creating caregiver scarcity. In families and communities, it’s women who routinely take on caring for children, the sick, and the elderly on top of their regular jobs. Caregivers of all kinds are being stretched thin.

As a futurist, it strikes me that If we take advantage of the coming AI productivity gains to help those who care for children and the vulnerable, maybe we can alleviate some of the pressure.

What if we digitally transform caring work with AI by building an ecosystem of CareTech? CareTech would consist of an array of smart home technology (AI, IoT, VR) and tools (sensors, cameras, speakers) and possibly more advanced biometric and neurotechnology equipment. They would be designed to help absorb caregiver mental load and perform some physical tasks.

Harnessing productivity of AI and other high-tech solutions for caregiving—which is occurring in the legal, medical, HR, entertainment, media and every other sector—could legitimate the economic value of the work and lead to higher wages for professional care workers. Public stipends for family caregivers could also gain popular support.

Care work seems to be an exception to the rule that AI poses a risk of taking jobs. Aside from making the work easier, automating routine tasks could give professional caregivers time for the more rewarding parts of their job. For family caregivers, it might give them more free time for themselves.

If caring becomes more of a STEM career (working with robots, AI, wearable tech, etc.), it might create more opportunities for men to be involved in caregiving. CareTech offers a solution to the care crisis that may correct the gender imbalance in caring work, both paid and unpaid.

A combination of surveillance, monitoring, digital assistant, and home automation already exists—how can we make it more about people instead of things? A CareTech ecosystem would harmonize networks of human needs: family, community, healthcare, employment, education, nutrition, social services, transportation, security, and so on. The providers would be a combination of public, private, not-for-profit and others. In the pandemic’s aftermath, there are many reasons to consolidate resources around care of all kinds: long Covid, mental health epidemic, learning loss in kids, PTSD, stress, grief, and isolation are just the start.

How would CareTech disrupt the economic recovery? The home appliances that are considered typical household equipment today were once high-tech luxury items. As the dishwashing machine and microwave oven became the norm across the US, women entered the workforce in new numbers and gave the economy a considerable jolt. History shows us that technological progress in the form of domestic technology helped boost productivity, while women gained equality and economic empowerment. CareTech could be a next step in the evolution, decoupling gender from caregiving jobs and family care roles. There are many imaginable optimistic scenarios within the CareTech vision where smart technology helps to improve the mental, physical, and emotional wellbeing of its users. Even better if it helps establish gender equality across the growing care economy.

Photo by Chase Yi on Unsplash