A robot that could take over household chores could be great for the elderly who want to live independently but are not quite able to take on all the work that comes with it. My parents are able to take care of themselves so far and have not had any Domestic help for a couple of decades. It was an unusual choice in their social milieu back then and they are still in the minority. They have managed by dividing tasks between themselves and acquiring a few appliances. To them that beats hiring help and dealing with everything that comes with it.

I asked them about their opinion of this story on Salon about the plight of domestic workers in India. Their position is that while those stories in the report are likely accurate, things can look very different for the elderly and vulnerable. They could be at the mercy of the Domestic Worker and can be abused in many ways. The fact that being a domestic worker can be the only source of livelihood for so many people is a problem that has yet to be solved. The poverty trap it creates is once that is hard to escape - only a small minority manage to do that.