Dementia: AI developed to help make life easier

Prof Wiles, whose own mother lives with dementia, is part of a team working on the Florence Project.

The team are keen to avoid their products ending up in a drawer of unused, overly complicated devices.

So, it includes a Living Experience Expert Panel, made up of people living with dementia and those who help care for them.

The project has developed three devices – a diary, a music player, and a digital photo screen. These are easy-to-use, single-function devices with physical elements like knobs or buttons, which also integrate the preferences of the living experience experts.

The content on the devices can be adjusted either locally or remotely. For instance, a relative in another part of the country can update the playlist on the music player, if the person living with dementia gives permission.

AI helps with personalising these tools. A knowledge bank is built for each person, based on questions they answer or conversations they have. Audio is transcribed and in some cases translated, before feeding into the kinds of information that are made available on the devices.

For example, the diary device might display the photo of a new part-time carer next to the time that they will arrive.

Needs and preferences may change as their condition does. So, for example, the information in the diary can be simplified to match the needs of the user.

The team were keen not to rush the development process – the project has been running for about a decade already, and is now at the stage of testing its prototypes.

“The downside for tech that goes wrong for people with dementia is often way worse than it would be for other people,” Prof Wiles cautions.

She emphasises that data privacy and security are especially important for people with dementia.