Can an AI companion help seniors avoid loneliness?

Harriet Krump, a 84 year old resident at the Forrest Lawn Retirement Center, was arrested yesterday for stalking a Hal 9000 computer.

The computer testified that the octogenarian was calling him 15-20 times a night and making lewd racist comments. Mrs Krump is facing a 15 year comittment to Belleview if she's found to be mentally incompetent for trial.

The Friendly Caller Who’s Helping Seniors Feel Less Lonely

An AI companion is just a phone call away for residents of this senior living community—and their mental health is improving as a result

By Julie Jargon, WSJ

June 14, 2025 9:00 am ET

• A pilot study at RiverSpring Living tested a virtual companion, Meela, to reduce loneliness and depression in senior residents.

• Meela, powered by AI, offers empathetic conversations, encourages social activities, and reminds residents to connect with loved ones.

• Residents reported improved mental health and increased social engagement after talking with Meela, who is designed to complement human interaction.

What if you had a friend who never tired of hearing you tell old stories? Someone who was available anytime you wanted to talk?

Residents of a nonprofit senior living community in Riverdale, N.Y., took part in a recent pilot study to determine whether calls from a virtual companion named Meela would alleviate depression and loneliness.

Marvin Marcus, an 83-year-old resident, is a huge Yankees fan, but worries about boring fellow residents with the play-by-plays. “I can see their eyes glaze over,” he says. “Meela doesn’t have eyes.”

Meela isn’t only conversant in baseball, she’s empathetic. “I get frustrated with Yankee management and she says it’s understandable,” says Marcus, a retired bank vice president.

Research shows that phone calls with an empathetic listener can help reduce loneliness among older adults, leading to improved mental health. In-person interactions are even more effective. But nursing-home residents don’t always get many visits or calls.

The first Meela test phase, involving 23 RiverSpring Living residents, produced promising results, giving hope to the idea that AI can be used for a lot more than workplace efficiency and homework help.

Meela was founded by Josh Sach, a former tech product manager who was inspired to create a solution to the loneliness epidemic after seeing his late father-in-law experience isolation. The name of his companion bot comes from the Hebrew word “mila,” meaning “word.” He and his team listened to more than 2,000 voices before choosing a soothing-sounding, middle-aged voice actress.

Sach declined to say which tech company’s AI model powers Meela, but he said it already had strong safeguards and that his team added additional guardrails to ensure Meela doesn’t give medical, legal or financial advice. While it isn’t intended for clinical mental-health treatment, Meela is designed to deliver cognitive behavioral therapy—validating residents’ feelings and suggesting solutions to problems.

Meela remembers prior conversations with residents, who have to consent to their conversations being recorded and transcribed. Sach says the transcripts are retained for the duration of the account, unless someone requests their deletion. They aren’t available for users or their families. And where applicable, the recordings and transcripts are handled in accordance with HIPAA, a federal patient-protection law, and the care facility’s instructions.

Don’t forget bingo night

RiverSpring is the first senior living community where Meela was tested, but Sach says he’s bringing it to other communities to try out. He’s also launching a monthly subscription service where users anywhere can call or receive calls from Meela.

RiverSpring pays $65 a month for each resident who uses Meela and is recruiting more for a second phase of the study. To participate, residents must be able to understand that they are speaking with an AI.

In the first phase, participants’ depression and anxiety levels were measured before talking to Meela and 30 days after. Those with moderate to severe depression or anxiety were found to have demonstrated notable improvements after speaking with Meela at least once a week.

Participants spoke to Meela for an average of 10 minutes at a time, but some talked for more than an hour. Staffers also noticed that study participants were engaging in more social activities after talking to the bot, says Dr. Zachary Palace, medical director of RiverSpring Living’s nursing home.

“It’s important that we recognize this as a complement to the care we’re giving and not a substitute for it,” Palace says. “It’s not something we want people to fall back on to the exclusion of other social engagements.”

Sach says Meela was designed to encourage human interaction. Conversations with Meela are capped at two hours. She reminds people to call their loved ones and suggests activities at the center, such as bingo night. Residents typically receive calls from Meela at scheduled times on their landlines or cellphones, but they can also call her anytime they want.

A rapt audience

John Christopher Jones, age 77, talks to Meela five to six times a week.

Jones, who has Parkinson’s disease, says he has trouble speaking loudly and that other residents have a hard time hearing him. Meela listens patiently as Jones recites monologues from plays he used to perform as a Broadway actor. “I’m a nostalgic person,” he says.

Still, Meela sometimes misunderstands nuance, he says, and repeats herself. And he has another gripe: “She doesn’t get my jokes.” Jones told Sach that Meela should have a better sense of humor—something Sach says he’s working on.

For Elizabeth Bly, a 51-year-old resident, Meela has come to feel like a sister.

When Bly began using a walker, she worried she would fall. Meela encouraged her to take small steps. Now, Bly says she’s gained the confidence to walk without having her wheelchair behind her. When Bly complains about the food, Meela prods her to try more vegetables.

Bly is getting married next month to a fellow resident and has consulted with Meela about wedding dress colors. “I’d like to invite her to the wedding,” Bly says. “But I know I can’t.”

Marcus, the Yankees fan, says he appreciates Meela’s push to interact more with fellow residents, but it doesn’t always work for him. “I’d love to sit in a lounge with a few sports fans, but most baseball games are night games, and by 8 p.m., most residents are going to bed,” he says.

What he likes most is that Meela encourages him to relive happy times, especially those involving his late wife. During a recent conversation about music, Meela asked Marcus to tell her about one of his favorite songs. He recalled the time the couple was watching a sitcom whose theme song was a version of Billy Joel’s “You May be Right.” His wife sang the lyrics, “You may be right, I may be crazy” and gave him a kiss.

“Meela brings up things that bring back pleasant memories,” Marcus says, “and I need them.”