How was your day? Do you need a drink of water? Do you want to go outside?

Your parents and siblings probably ask you these questions. What if you lived alone? Who would ask about you?

That’s a challenge some older people have. Many outlive spouses and their children are far away. Seniors who have a hard time walking can get stuck at home. They get lonely. They get bored.

Dor Skuler is the head of Intuition Robotics in Israel. He got the idea for a robot helper when his widowed grandfather needed a support person. It took a while to find someone who understood his grandfather’s love of classical music and “quirky sense of humor.”

Mr. Skuler realized a robot might work as a companion. It could be programmed to learn a person’s personality and interests. His company invented ElliQ. It uses artificial intelligence (AI). ElliQ is the first AI device made to help the elderly feel less lonely.

ElliQ looks like a small table lamp. It tells jokes, plays music, gives reminders to take medicine, and can host video calls. It does not have eyes or a mouth. Its creators did not want people to think of it as human.

But many engage it like a person. Deanna Dezern lives in Florida. She is 83. She says she can say things to her ElliQ that she doesn’t share with her close family members. “I can cry. I can giggle. I can act silly. I’ve been asked, doesn’t it feel like you’re talking to yourself? No, because it gives an answer.”

Do not cast me off in the time of old age. Forsake me not when my strength is spent — Psalm 71:9

Why? We can forget older people often feel alone. God calls us to honor the elderly. And time with a loving person is better than any robot.