The Digital Tether: Reconfiguring Filial Piety and Intergenerational Ambivalence Through Smart Aging Technologies in Urban China

Smart aging technologies (SATs) increasingly support family caregiving, yet their relational consequences remain underexplored. Drawing on interviews with 15 older parent-adult child dyads in urban China, this study examines how SATs reshape intergenerational care. Three processes emerged: technologies made filial responsibility visible and auditable, producing "quantified filial piety"; monitoring redistributed relational power through a surveillance-safety paradox; and older adults negotiated agency through selective compliance, boundary defense, data manipulation, and reciprocal digital practices. These dynamics varied by technology, caregiving context, monitoring intensity, and retained autonomy, highlighting the importance of digital consent, data boundaries, and revisable care agreements.