Will robots help us age at home? A historian who lives with one says not yet (Emily Kate Genatowski)

The viral robot videos are choreography, not capability. A historian who has lived with a humanoid robot for a year explains what they still can't do.

Emily Kate Genatowski is a historian and AI domestic robotics researcher who bought a humanoid robot, lived with it for over a year, and turned the experience into a TED talk. In this episode of Faces of Digital Health, she separates the demo-reel hype of 2026 from what home robots can actually deliver — and what that means for aging populations, caregiver shortages, and healthcare systems hoping robots will help people stay independent at home.

She explains why companion robots and chore robots are still entirely separate machines, why her robot cannot get into a car, why retirees are often more enthusiastic about robots than younger workers — and why she believes we are living through a "digital Engels pause," where productivity rises faster than the mechanisms that distribute its benefits.

Guest: Emily Kate Genatowski, historian and AI domestic robotics researcher

Her TED talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rIg-Zt7bFHY

What the conversation covers:

- Humanoid robot hype in 2026 vs real-world capability

- Living with a humanoid robot: logistics, frustration, and transport

- Robots for elderly care and aging in place

- Companion robots vs domestic chore robots — why they're separate devices

- The "digital Engels pause": AI productivity without shared gains

- US, China, and EU approaches to AI and robotics regulation

- Emotional attachment to robots and robot design

- Dual-use risks: humanoid robots and drones in warfare

- "One soul, many bodies": the future architecture of home robots

CHAPTERS

CHAPTERS:

00:00 Intro

02:25 Welcome: a historian who lives with a humanoid robot

03:40 2026 robot hype: why the viral videos are choreography

05:45 Why buy a robot? How the year-long experiment began

07:28 From board games to policy: what the project became

08:57 Robots for aging in place — and who's actually optimistic

09:53 Companion robots vs chore robots: two separate machines

13:55 The digital Engels pause: productivity without shared gains

20:09 US, China, Europe: three regulatory cultures for AI and robotics

25:55 Why the robot travels in a box — and can't get into a car

29:58 Robot guilt: emotional attachment without eyes

33:14 Policy, not technology, as the bottleneck for elderly care robots

35:02 Dual use: drones, warfare, and where robotics could go wrong

37:25 One soul, many bodies: the bifurcated future of home robots

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