From science fiction to science faction: AI – tomorrow’s world, today

I recently watched the BBC TV sitcom series, ‘Ann Droid’, where the lonely, older main character is given an android assistant, Z58/100 Basic Eldercare Robot, to provide companionship to overcome the loss of her life partner, to motivate and give humanoid support on a range of everyday tasks at home, all under a watchful virtual eye.

The programme reminded me that as a teenager I was fascinated by the sci-fi mystery books of Michael Moorcock and Isaac Asimov. An avid, young reader, I would visit my local library and devour the latest futuristic, machine-generated fantasy in no time at all.

Fast forward over the next four decades, many of those fantasies written about the complex relationship between technology and society are now cyber realities in a technology-enabled world; from the supercomputer and advanced data-processing for understanding patterns of behaviour to humanistic caring bots (like Ann Droid) and the use of artificial intelligence (AI) to anticipate needs or alert to risks. Have we learnt from the authors’ prophecies? Moreover, with months until the UK analogue to digital switchover needs to be completed (by the end of January 2027), are we any nearer to being ‘digi-ready’, let alone making best use of AI? Figures recently reported by Housemark (opens new window) found that only 11% of social housing providers had an AI strategy. Furthermore, 73% said that their core housing and business systems provided limited or no support for AI integration.

Back in the late 1990s, when I was at Anchor, I managed the first ever ‘Smart Housing and Telecare’ projects across several sheltered housing settings in England. This pioneering project is so dated that there is only a hard copy available of this former Housing Corporation funded report!

I recollect that data transfer and technology integration was then so poor that it often had to be supplemented by fax, a long way from the instant fix of digital transfers and Apps that we take for granted today. I recounted this fact at a recent conference on AI and innovations in tenant and resident engagement at Amazon’s London HQ and only a handful of delegates even knew what a fax was. More importantly, I also pointed out that talking to my elderly relatives there is now also a cohort of older people who are digitally illiterate and feel ever more remote from an increasingly virtual world, findings backed up by a recent Age UK report (opens new window). Can AI overcome this digital exclusion?

Nearly 30 years on, we have learned from the influential TAPPI project, that people want to manage their own data, coproduce technology solutions that are easy to use, tailor it to their varying needs, ensure it is affordable, interoperable and, above all, help them stay in control. This is not science fiction, it’s science faction! 

It is also clear from our survey of Housing LIN members on the impact of AI on residents and staff in specialist and supported housing, which has helped inform our forthcoming practice briefing on AI in specialist and supported housing, that many organisations are not exploiting the use of AI beyond supporting basic administrative and operational report writing tasks - such as using ChatGPT  - or involving their customers sufficiently.

Here at the Housing LIN when we draw attention to the digital, we often refer to the sector’s poor state of ‘digi-readiness’. As the findings from our member AI survey will reveal - when published next week - many organisations’ level of AI maturity is very low. As a result, specialist and supported housing operators need to quickly grasp its strategic importance, not just for service improvement, but to deliver the outcomes that tenants and residents demand. It’s no longer simply a ‘tomorrow’s world’ of technology; digital and AI are here to stay today.

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If you found this of interest and want to learn more about AI in specialist/supported housing, book your place at our free HAPPI Hour webinar on Thursday, 8 October 2026, when we will be launching the practice briefing with our survey partner HCR Law and will also be joined by a great cast of guest contributors.