Older adults and mobile AI: Perceptions, practices, and predictions

Older adults – meaning people over the age of 65 – are the first generation to grow old in a digital data-saturated world and represent a diverse range of digital literacies. Some have a long history of mobile media adoption, interest, and play, while others are less digitally familiar or literate. When it comes to older adults and artificial intelligence (AI), research has explored how the health and wellbeing of older adults can be optimized and improved through mobile AI. At the same time, the World Health Organization has warned of the risks of ageism in developing AI-based technologies that rely on ageist assumptions about the role of technology in the lives of older adults. Researchers, policymakers, and technology developers must work collaboratively and ethically with older people to build or adapt AI technologies that meet their needs while being cognizant of concerns and risks. To that end, there is little empirical evidence of older adults’ quotidian practices with mobile AI, their attitudes toward it, and what they think the future of mobile AI might hold. In this commentary paper, which draws on ethnographic and creative methods data from a larger study, we argue that the heterogeneous perspectives, perceptions, and practices of older adults must be included in the design, policy, and regulation of mobile AI.