Cooped up at home and isolated from friends and family, white-collar workers turned — in their millions — to the companionship of furry friends during the pandemic. According to PDSA, there was a 36% increase in pet ownership in the UK at the time.
Tech, of course, capitalised on the increasing market, offering up new and wonderful ways to monitor your fluffy companion’s health, wants and wellbeing.
However, things have changed since the pandemic in 2021 — workers are increasingly back in the office and social obligations are back, big time.
This has led to a paradox where pet owners are way more in tune with their pets, caring for them more like family members than animals, but also want fun and active social lives, which don’t always go hand and paw with staying in with their pooch.
Could tech’s new darling — artificial intelligence — come to the rescue? From AI-powered smart collars and litter boxes to using AI to figure out a cat’s emotions, pet care is becoming more high tech, more efficient and more remote.
We spoke to Nicolò Frisiani, the founder of AI-powered vet platform Lupa, Massimiliano Melis, chief technology officer of AITEM, a company which has developed an AI assistant for vets called Laika, and Susan Groeneveld, founder of Sylvester.ai, an app which uses AI to see how your cat truly feels, on the latest episode of the podcast about the opportunities AI brings to pet tech — and beyond.
Listen to the full episode — and subscribe to the series — here.
This podcast is sponsored by Unleashed by Purina. It is hosted and produced by Steph Bailey, edited by Billy Craigon and managed by Tanya Maheshwari.
