Augmentation and Aging: Technologies We Should Keep an Eye On as a Society

Demographic change is intersecting with a new generation of technologies. As society ages and labor shortages emerge in many places, robotics and artificial intelligence are increasingly leaving the labs and becoming part of everyday life. Things get particularly exciting where machines do not replace humans but rather enhance their capabilities.

Exoskeletons, intelligent assistance systems, and AI-powered robotics promise to ease the burden of physically demanding work, provide greater independence in old age, and open up new possibilities for care, mobility, and social participation. What sounded like science fiction just a few years ago is already being used today in hospitals, long-term care facilities, and logistics centers.

But which of these technologies actually have the potential to positively transform our aging society? What problems do they truly solve? And what societal notions of work, performance, and age do they shape in the process?

As a technology and culture curator, Eric Eitel has been exploring the interplay between technology and social change for many years. In his talk, he contextualizes current developments in human augmentation, exoskeletons, robotics, and physical AI, presents concrete examples of their application, and discusses which technologies we should keep a particularly close eye on in the coming years.

A talk about the future of physical labor, technological assistance, and the question of how we can maintain independence, participation, and autonomy in an aging society.