Technological solutions to loneliness—Are they enough?

Loneliness is a major public health concern, particularly during pandemics such as Covid. It is extremely common, and it poses a major risk to human health. Technological solutions including social media, robots, and virtual reality have been advocated and implemented to relieve loneliness, and thei...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Lederman, Zohar (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Wiley-Blackwell 2023
In: Bioethics
Year: 2023, Volume: 37, Issue: 3, Pages: 275-284
RelBib Classification:NBE Anthropology
NCJ Ethics of science
TK Recent history
ZD Psychology
ZG Media studies; Digital media; Communication studies
Further subjects:B Technology
B Social media
B Loneliness
B Responsibility
B Virtual Reality
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Summary:Loneliness is a major public health concern, particularly during pandemics such as Covid. It is extremely common, and it poses a major risk to human health. Technological solutions including social media, robots, and virtual reality have been advocated and implemented to relieve loneliness, and their use will undoubtedly increase in the near future. This paper explores the use of technological solutions from a normative perspective, asking whether and to what extent such measures should indeed be relied upon. The conclusion is that technological solutions are unquestionably part of the solution to loneliness, but that they cannot and should not constitute the whole solution. It is important to note that this is not a straw-man argument, as several organizations and scholars have strictly focused on such technological solutions for loneliness.
ISSN:1467-8519
Contains:Enthalten in: Bioethics
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1111/bioe.13096