When it comes to AI tools and older adults, there’s a lot of potential for good. Chatbots, for example, could help alleviate loneliness. But there are also risks. And Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly wants Congress to address the power of AI.
On Monday, Kelly urged the Senate Special Committee on Aging to hold a hearing on how chatbots and digital companions are impacting the lives of seniors.
In his letter to the committee's chairs, he wrote that while these tools offer opportunities for independence — such as medication reminders — there’s also evidence of exploitation and harm to seniors. Chatbots, he wrote, could be manipulated to craft phishing emails and possibly supercharge scams already targeting older adults.
Kelly said a hearing would give lawmakers the chance to determine what regulatory or legislative reforms might be necessary to support safe design of these tools and ensure vulnerabilities are addressed.
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Tom Wainwright is media editor for the Economist and, in a recent article, he explores the ways in which technology is transforming old age — for the worse and, maybe surprisingly, for the better.
