'Robbie the Robot' can spot worsening dementia after watching 13 episodes of Emmerdale

A robot is being trained to recognise signs of dementia – by watching TV. Robbie the Robot, believed to be the first gadget of its kind, binge-watched ITV soap opera Emmerdale to learn how to recognise facial expressions. The machine monitored 65,082 images of the character Ashley Thomas – who developed dementia – from more than 13 episodes of the programme. Already able to spot aggressiveness and depression – possible signs of the degenerative brain disease – researchers hope Robbie will help diagnose patients. And they will now show it scenes from the sitcom Friends to help it learn about social interactions.