The Use of Digital Technologies, Artificial Intelligence and Social Robots in Healthcare: Human-Machine Interaction analysis

European health systems face growing pressure from ageing populations, workforce shortages, and increasing chronic conditions, alongside persistent dependence on informal care, mostly provided by women and associated with economic and health burdens. Digital technologies, including AI-based tools and Socially Assistive Robots (SARs), are emerging as potential support for healthcare workers, people in need of care, and informal carers. Their integration, however, raises questions about acceptance, emotional engagement, fears, and the boundaries between humans and machines. This thesis investigates these issues through four ethnographic case studies in Slovenia, Italy, and Japan, analysing how digital solutions and social robots are implemented in clinical and community settings. The cases include the Pepper robot in a Slovenian hospital, digital neurorehabilitation technologies at San Camillo Hospital, the RoBee robot in Rome, and socially assistive robots and AI-based avatars in Japanese dementia and ageing programmes. Together, they provide a comparative, culturally informed understanding of how human–machine relationships emerge and how intelligent technologies reshape care practices and expectations in contemporary health and ageing ecosystems.