Sophie Okolo, MPH

Eliezer Yudkowsky, a leading proponent of “friendly” artificial intelligence, offers a cautionary observation about the potential of AI — performing tasks that usually require human intelligence.

“The greatest danger of Artificial Intelligence,” he writes, “is that people conclude too early that they understand it.”

Any serious discussion of AI’s impact on the aging population must start with Yudkowsky’s implied question: Do we understand it? And if we do, how do we harness it to enhance the lives of our burgeoning population of older adults?

The potential exists for AI to provide lower health care costs, better transportation, and longer employment. AI may even end the isolation that often separates less-mobile adults from family and friends and removes the stigma of growing old.

Realizing AI’s potential will require businesses and entrepreneurs to make it less expensive and for health care providers, sons and daughters to embrace it as a tool for more frequent, deeper connection. But first, we need to understand the challenge.