It has been rather difficult to fight the COVID-19 outbreak as it demanded the one thing that is against human nature- social distancing. There have been many epidemics that have come and gone as they found the source of affecting persons to be not another person. India has recorded an even bigger spike in the last few days making the tally reach close to 81 thousand cases.
While the world continues to struggle with the pandemic outbreak, there has been another epidemic that already had a base but has now gone full throttle owing to the current situation. It is the loneliness pandemic that develops due to the social distancing measures imposed by countries to contain the spread of the virus.
Loneliness can have long-lasting effects on a person’s mental and physical health and hence needs to be addressed immediately. It can lead people to indulge in unhealthy activities further deteriorating their health. At a time like this, where people can’t meet their regular friend circles to not get infected by the deadly virus, what can they do to fight the loneliness? The answer, to a lot of questions during the pandemic, is technology.
Governments and businesses have resorted to digital tools and technological options to sustain their operations and survival. It has proved to be a great tool for communication, coordination and automation of tasks. On a personal level, for those that are away from their families and friends during this pandemic, technology has not disappointed.
Social media apps are in their best years
Social media profiles were already helping people connect with all their friends and family but now they are witnessing more active users. Due to video calling features available on these platforms, people are also able to interact with loved ones on a one-to-one basis and also as a group.
Regular activities like lunch, tea parties, board games, quizzes, and celebrations are now happening via video conferencing apps like Zoom. In fact, you can even watch movies together on Netflix by sharing the same screen and having a chat option. By staying connected at least digitally, people are feeling a lot less lonely.
Increase in use of voice assistants, robots
There has been an increase in the usage of voice assistants such as Siri, Alexa and other smart speakers to provide people with news and entertainment. By talking more to these artificial assistants people are feeling less lonely at home. They have been spending time listening to music, learning new skills, finding new content, etc.
On the other hand, robots are also gaining a lot of attention during this pandemic. While most robotics companies have deployed their robots to hospitals to care for infected persons, these robots have been doing more than that. Some of these robots are also interacting with patients and engaging in conversations with them. While robots don’t show signs of empathy or humanity, there are still helpful in combating loneliness for isolated patients.
At least something rather than nothing…
Digital conversations and substitutes may never make up for personal interactions but given the current lockdown situation, they are helping people cope. Compromised mental health would make people more prone to catching a virus and not being able to recover from it. AI and Social media have definitely played a significant role in providing human beings with emotional support during this pandemic.
