Empowering Older Adults to Enable AI for All

Canada is becoming a super-aged nation this year with 20% of its population over the age of  65. At the same time, Canada is seeking to translate its research leadership in AI into broad  social and economic benefits through its new AI for All strategy. We have a tremendous  responsibility, but also a remarkable opportunity, to support AI prosperity by considering these societal transformations in tandem.  

It is easy to imagine an approach to AI and its many evolving uses as one more advancement  that will provide benefits to older adults as a by-product, rather than through their direct  engagement in AI design and adoption. In some ways, it may be tempting to assume an aging  lens is not required since the most popular AI use cases appear user-friendly and even “human like” (e.g., chatbots, voice-enabled technology). However, this view misses the opportunity to  leverage that very capacity and rate of advancement to engage and empower older Canadians,  present and future, to shape uses of AI in their lives and to build the requisite trust for its true  adoption.  

If trust is the “north star” of AI for All, the work needed to build it must precede, and continue  alongside, the development and deployment of new tools and solutions. 

For over a decade, AGE-WELL has seen researchers and innovators demonstrate the value of  engaging with older adults early and meaningfully. Innovative technologies that are developed  without user engagement often end up unused or outright rejected. Incorporating lived  experience through co-creation approaches is both a commercial advantage and a social good.  Canadian AI startups operating in healthcare, education, and independent living would therefore  have better fundamental conditions to succeed and scale in Canada. Our country can become a  leading developer of AI for aging, otherwise known as AI for the world’s fastest growing  demographic. Within AGE-WELL’s network, we saw signals of such potential as early as 2020 with startups achieving market success through technology that was leveraging AI for  diagnostics and care. In our experience, Canada’s existing research excellence and a  willingness to co-create and to act on meaningful input are critical elements of the paths to  success. 

As the new national strategy points out, a lot of work is needed to increase Canadians’ AI  literacy, opportunity, and participation. AI literacy is critical, but so too is open discussion of risks  and benefits as part of building trust. This need is particularly important for older adults, who  may face additional barriers to accessing, understanding, and benefiting from AI. Participation  without AI literacy will limit adoption and lead to AI for older adults being restricted mainly to AI powered solutions that are passively or unknowingly accepted, along with basic search tools  that bring their own risks and age-related biases. There is therefore an urgency around  establishing accessible AI literacy tools and resources for our diverse population of older adults.  While we welcome the National AI Literacy initiative, it will need to carefully develop resources  and approaches that are optimized for older adults. This is another opportunity where Canada  can lean on co-creation and the expertise of a world-leading aging research community. 

We must also guard against AI exacerbating inequalities. Research on digital literacy in  Canada’s varied urban and rural settings shows that there are approaches to benefit older  Canadians wherever they live. There are early examples of programs utilizing AI in care delivery in rural communities where operational efficiency and reach in areas like home care can  produce benefits for those typically on the wrong side of the digital divide, such as better access to care and quicker returns home from the hospital. But these early successes may be limited if these initiatives do not involve informed consent and community engagement, thereby reducing trust and ultimately jeopardizing adoption. Pillar 2 rightly recognizes the need for trusted organizations to deliver these programs (e.g., seniors’ centres and libraries), but co-creative approaches will also be key to success. 

For co-creation to translate into real impact, there must be an openness to the input and feedback of older adults on the part of academia, industry, and government as well as effective  engagement among all three. Canada has already invested in networks built for exactly this  cross-sector work. It should seize the opportunity to use them as delivery partners for the new  national strategy rather than rebuilding that capacity. 

Recently, AGE-WELL convened an AI & Aging Council, bringing together leaders in academia, industry, and care delivery to open dialogue with older adults and share insight across sectors so that AI can benefit older Canadians. In the year to come, this Council will share ideas, hear from older adults and their caregivers, and work to inform key stakeholders on how we might jointly address opportunities and gaps at the intersection of AI and aging. In parallel, AGE-WELL will continue to bring together the aging and technology ecosystem to drive innovation through co-creation.  

The new national AI strategy has presented key ingredients for prosperity through  empowerment. To ensure the strategy serves older Canadians, we recommend adapting tactics  proposed in the strategy as follows: 

1. Establish a co-created stream, designed with and for older adults, within the National AI  Literacy initiative. 
2. Incorporate existing networks into the AI Missions Program, leveraging established  infrastructure so that innovative AI solutions are developed, validated, and positioned for  adoption at scale through proven cross-sector collaboration in Canada.  

Canada has global strengths in both AI and aging research. Bringing them together would allow  us to lead a rapidly evolving field while improving the lives of millions of people. With  collaborative effort and co-creative engagement, we can build the trust that adoption depends  on and empower one-fifth of our population to direct AI towards greater autonomy, social well-being and health for all of us.