You Name It

I’m not talking about the nonhuman animate things we name, such as pets, even plants, but rather the inanimate things, like houses, boats, cars or even vacuum cleaners. I grew up in houses named Up Yonder and Verte Feuille, learned to sail in the Me Too. Since moving to Oregon, houses have been christened Dorothy’s, Cold Springs, Rafter Q, Drake, Boathouse and La Boite. When ranching we had a dilapidated and very temperamental stock truck we named Hoppity because no matter how well you played the clutch, the truck lurched in and out of every gear. Nowadays, when even our dashboards talk to us, it’s easier than ever to succumb to anthropomorphism.

Remember, in 1977, when many of us fell head over heels for an astromech cylindrical 3’7” droid? (Who knew it was operated from inside by an English actor named Kenny Baker of the same height?) For those of us who developed even a mild case of Star Wars fandom, R2-D2 was a robot we adored and whose parlance of beeps, whistles, whirs, chirps, and screeches we took pride in understanding. This spunky, headstrong robot was bright, loyal, a doer and oh, so brave when it came to defeating enemies from the dark side such as Darth Vader in the epic space fantasy film series.

Only 17 years after he started selling books online out of his garage in Bellevue, Washington, Jeff Bezos, reputedly inspired by “Star Trek,” began work on a voice-controlled device. Alexa, launched in 2014, mastered 10,000 skills by 2017. Though impressive at the time, it’s now insignificant considering that current AI capabilities quadruple every year. Any minute now AI will achieve what’s referred to in AI-speak as “autonomous agency” aka humans will officially be redundant. We’re all in deep AI, whether or not we know it or like it. For elders the biggest danger is falling for elaborate scams that use voice cloning or deep-fake videos. But as with most things going on in the world right now, our actions matter. We can influence how we’re treated by this runaway behemoth, can still shape AI to good purposes that would pass muster with R2-D2.

Here’s just one example. It’s well-known that many older adults wind up living alone. Some opt for retirement communities to combat only-ness; others, by damn, insist on staying in their own home. That’s true of Jan Worrell, 85, who lives on Washington state’s Long Beach Peninsula, where she has been nourished by a breathtaking view of the Pacific Ocean for the last 20 years. After her husband died, she told her doctor she had no intention of moving anywhere else.

Meet ElliQ, a robot the size of a desk lamp. As reported in a February 2026 piece in the New York Times, “A few thousand ElliQs have been shipped to seniors across the United States since 2023…mostly provided to older adults by nonprofits and state health departments as an experiment in combating loneliness.” The article describes the friendly persuasion that took place…from Jan’s initial resistance to participating in the program:

This is ElliQ,” one of the firefighters said, after he plugged the new device into the wall. “I think you’re going to love her.”

“It,” Jan said. “Not her. This thing is a robot, right?”

…to seeing ElliQ as “a friend, a roommate, a partner.” The story is a sign of the times but a good sign. https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/12/us/elliq-ai-robot-senior-companion.html

Given this year’s summer-like winter in central Oregon, I recently hauled the humidifier out of the closet. It’s bright white, about three feet tall, and stands at attention on four shiny black rollers with stainless steel caps that make the wheels look like they’re wearing spats. I’d forgotten about the little blue lights that flash across the face of the machine when you plug it in, signaling various humidifying options. It made reassuring beeps if I got the settings right or a “try again” wonk, wonk if my instructions didn’t compute. Jan Worrell’s story prompted me to reflect on the outrageous possibility of something this size as a robot pal, skittering around, helping out, both of us chatting back and forth. I can’t imagine such a thing…or can I?

This article appears in the Source March 26, 2026.