AI and machine learning

Older adults will adapt to change and adopt new technology. When an 88-year-old neighbor is filming fireworks with his smartphone, it is easy to see that times have changed. If an affordable technology can be found that meets a personal need (or answers a compelling question with AI), people will find it and get it to work. Remember encyclopedias – we now cannot imagine any process that would again make them useful. Could training be more readily found? Will all devices default to ‘Accessibility’ and security options that you must undo? 

Maybe it really is time for the 'virtual' AgeTech suite. As HLTH 2024 wrapped up this month, including its plethora of small-scope, standalone AgeTech offerings, look over at the world of Digital Health. A drop in funding precipitated a rethink on the part of some companies – causing them to acquire functionality rather than build it themselves – and saving time and money. Duh.  Looking at the 58 companies that made up the AgeTech exhibit hall at HLTH, they are prime candidates as well for combination into 'virtual' suites. No integration required, just marketing awareness that in the eyes of the ultimate user, family member or reseller, one offering is complementary to another.  And more to the point, that user may need all of them at one point or another, as physical wellbeing, mental capacity, and social connections -- will likely evolve over time.   

HLTH 2024 wrapped up last week in Las Vegas – where else?  AI was a big topic – transformational, embedded in health tech, capitalizing on the buzz. Or growing caution, concern about regulation, data quality issues, depending on the perspective. Others fretted about the state of healthcare in the US (not good), physician burnout (not good) and the health status of Americans, especially the mental health of young people (not good).  All these despite the promise of AI-enablement of laborious processes, hospital at home, conversational AI, new drugs, and many tech innovations. Looking through the exhibitor list, fifty-eight companies self-identified as AgeTech at HLTH.

The tech user experience – still flawed and in need of fixing.  As noted in the May report, The User Experience Needs an Upgrade, the requirement to use smartphones and other tech is growing exponentially – in-person and by-telephone experiences have disappeared or deteriorated.  Yet there are few useful ways to help older adults navigate the thicket of user interfaces, and this only becomes more obvious as AI capabilities emerge that could be extremely useful, but finding and understanding them is, well, work.  Frustration bubbles up here and there – AARP’s 2024 Tech Trends and Adults 50+ noted that only 61% of adults aged 70+ felt they had the digital skills to fully take advantage of being online. 

Concerns about AI are all around, but its future role is inevitable.  There it is, one consumer well-publicized survey after another, whether it is the WSJ,  Pew Research or AARP,  even as adoption in business, healthcare and other industries grows.  Consumers continue to express worry – but in the meantime…82% of companies are either using or exploring use of AI today. That parallels the senior living and care organizations interviewed for this new report – there is a combination of evaluating, limited use, and actually in use with benefit. Interviewees contributed ideas, actual projects and concerns, helping to shape the new report, The Future of AI in Senior Living and Care.

A new study offers a conundrum, or maybe a marketing problem.  Most Americans 50 and older don’t trust AI-generated health information, says a new poll published by the University of Michigan. But they do trust their own ability to figure out what information is good and what isn’t when they look for it.  They say they trust WebMD, Healthline. And yet only 32% said it was easy to find accurate health advice.  But how would you know what is accurate? And the 84% who said they got health information from a health care provider, pharmacist, friend or family member in the past year. A friend or family member?  Really?