Table 2.

Key ethical issues related to the introduction of artificial companions in users with cognitive impairment (list created by the authors)

Deception	Users may be deceived into believing they have a personal relationship with the artificial companion.
Monitoring and tracking	Users may not understand or may forget that the artificial companion might monitor them.
Informed consent	Uniform guidelines are missing on how to gain informed consent and when and how a proxy should provide consent on behalf of someone with cognitive impairment.
Social isolation	Using artificial companions might reduce the opportunities for people with cognitive impairment to interact with human beings.