How Singapore’s eldercare industry is gearing up for the silver tsunami with robots, motion sensors and smart gadgets

It then generated the text for the 45-page book, which Mr Yeo has since printed out and shared with family and friends, many of whom have requested their own copies.

As Singapore hurtles towards becoming a “super-aged” society – with more than one in five here expected to be 65 years old or older by 2026 – such tools are offering relief for some eldercare providers. 

Machines can lead group activities, provide companionship, or help track residents’ health and moods. And as the population of seniors living alone is expected to rise, trials are underway to use technology to support seniors ageing in place.

As Dr Kelvin Tan, head of the minor in Applied Ageing Studies programme at the Singapore University of Social Sciences (SUSS), put it, one of the challenges that the country is facing is a lack of manpower to support the ageing population, so technology is very important to complement and support this growing need.

“Singapore will have no choice. We need to embrace AI. This is not just a buzzword, but an important development that we need to tap on,” he said. “When we are able to synergise AI in the healthcare setting, I’m sure we can reduce the burnout, the anxiety of carers and provide a good quality of care”.

At the national level, HealthTech agency Synapxe is using AI and machine learning to improve healthcare delivery, accessibility and patient outcomes, said Mr Andy Ta, its chief data officer and director of data analytics and AI (DNA).

Its HealthHub AI project – a multilingual conversational assistant which supports English, Chinese, Malay and Tamil – allows users to ask health questions through voice or text and receive answers sourced from the HealthHub website.

Still, experts say the challenge lies in balance – ensuring that technology enhances, rather than replaces, the empathy, trust and human touch needed for good eldercare.