Robots may be the answer to caring for the aged in Japan and other nations where the young are destined to be overwhelmed by a surging elderly population.

Robots serving not just as helpers — carrying out simple chores and reminding patients to take their medication — but also as companions, even if the machines can conduct merely a semblance of real dialogue.

Proponents of robot therapy say it makes more sense to use machines: They are more sanitary; they don’t bite or cause allergies; and there is no need to feed them anything more than power.