UT creating artificial intelligence to help slow dementia progression

Now working as a professor with Mechanical Aerospace and Biomedical Engineering at the University of Tennessee, Zhao is looking to develop a way for artificial intelligence in robots to assist dementia patients with everyday activities. "Suppose a dementia patient tried to make a cup of coffee, they may forget what they're doing or may forget what to do next," said Zhao. Zhao and graduate research assistant Fengpei Yuan have been programming the robots to help slow the progression of Alzheimer's by keeping patients engaged. "We really want to use our robots to engage people in social activities. I think the big challenge for people with dementia is they will gradually forget who they are and forget very important persons," said Fengpei.