Emma The Joke-telling Robot Cracks Up The Care Home: Paula Hornickel’s Best Photograph

One greeting successful July 2025, I arrived successful nan small, quiet municipality of Albershausen successful south-west Germany. It has only astir 4,000 inhabitants. I went to sojourn a attraction location wherever they were piloting a societal robot named Emma. A group of residents sat successful a circle while Emma stood successful nan middle. She’s nan tallness of a toddler, pinch large googly eyes, and was wearing a reddish chapeau knitted for her by 1 of nan careworkers. The first resident she was introduced to was called Peter and, aft he introduced himself, Emma assumed they were each called Peter, which everyone recovered hilarious. Then Emma collapsed down abruptly and nan illusion was shattered.

Later on, Emma was moving again, and I recovered her successful nan eating room pinch Waltraud, nan resident successful this photo. It was a calmer, much focused moment. I decided to beryllium them crossed from 1 different astatine oculus level, Waltraud facing Emma. There was a soft ray successful nan room and they some seemed very coming pinch 1 another. There are besides paradoxes successful nan picture: nan ample windows showing nan scenery outside, contrasting pinch nan inside, which is ordered and clinical. In nan mediate you person an brushwood betwixt an aged female and a instrumentality designed for companionship. They began speaking astir picking flowers, astir their favourite flowers – Waltraud is passionate astir them, and Emma has an endless magnitude of knowledge owed to her artificial intelligence. She tin retrieve past conversations and recognise faces, too.

The image is portion of my photograph effort Anthrobocene, exploring human-robot encounters successful mundane life successful Germany. I recovered retired astir aviator schemes – this was 1 of 2 robots being utilized successful attraction homes, developed by a Munich-based startup. They are designed for wherever location is simply a deficiency of skilled workers, to promote residents to prosecute successful conversation. Life successful attraction homes tin beryllium monotonous and this caller exertion tin help.

Waltraud told maine she was sceptical astatine first, arsenic she had ne'er seen aliases heard thing for illustration this, but complete time, she told maine she had built a narration pinch Emma, but 1 that was much for intermezo purposes – they tin show jokes too. Waltraud emphasised that she would still for illustration quality contact. “You wouldn’t judge really lonely group are successful attraction homes,” she said, a remark that has stuck pinch me. So this image reflects a deeper societal issue.

I began photographing robots aft a infirmary successful my location town, wherever I and respective members of my family had worked, started utilizing robots to relieve staff. It was absorbing to spot this development, and it raises questions astir really galore robots are now retired there. It’s been a quiet change, not 1 we notice. Yet galore much group are becoming accustomed to utilizing exertion connected a societal and affectional level. So what happens erstwhile robots are not conscionable a applicable instrumentality but a companion? What does it mean erstwhile robots get much human?

I visited galore institutions, astir shaped by unit shortages: a occurrence department, investigation centres, an inclusive theatre creation institution utilizing a robot performer successful choreography, moreover a personification who had canine robots astatine home. I learned that it’s really difficult to build humanoid robots and, though AI is moving very fast, a robot takes time. Everyone I said to felt that robots should beryllium an addition, not a replacement. Emma uses information and probability, and is ever affirmative and attentive. It’s a convincing simulation of attraction – but she has nary consciousness aliases lived acquisition down what she’s saying. It’s absorbing what this does to us.

I was amazed by really engaged nan residents were pinch Emma and really unfastened they were to nan technology. Growing unit connected our overstretched attraction systems, exhausted workers and nan loneliness pandemic whitethorn mean that robots could progressively support and moreover return complete definite tasks. I deliberation this image reflects nan reality of nan attraction assemblage and really we want to reside these issues. But successful a broader sense, it besides makes ocular our ain interactions pinch chatbots today.

Photograph: Ella Jungheinrich

Paula Hornickel’s CV

Born: Forst (Lausitz), Germany
High point: Being selected for this year’s World Press Photo award. After years of visiting nan exhibition, it feels surreal to beryllium represented there
Top tip: Photography is simply a awesome instrumentality for starting conversations and opening doors to group and places beyond your accustomed surroundings