The Age-Friendly AI initiative kicked off on 27 March 2025 with a dynamic workshop, expertly guided by Michael Creek from Brussels-based Stickydot. Over 50 participants gathered to collaboratively define what success looks like for this project, ensuring the initiative’s impact is truly meaningful for older adults across Ireland.
Project lead, Paula Kelly from TU Dublin kicked off the session with an introduction to Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the ‘Age-Friendly AI’ Literacy Initiative. After a short icebreaker activity, Michael from presented a first version of the key expected outcomes of the “Age-Friendly AI” initiative, to be discussed in the workshop:
- Older adults will feel more confident about AI.
- The Irish public will better understand how AI affects older adults.
- Older adults will feel more confident sharing their views about AI.
- Older adults will have their voices heard about AI.
- Researchers will better understand older adults’ views on AI.
Each group was given expected outcomes cards and asked to rank them by importance. After a short break, the groups brainstormed additional outcomes they felt were missing, drawing from their lived experiences and expectations. After taking two minutes to jot down their ideas, participants shared and discussed them within their groups. Each group created a poster to collect the outcomes, and participants used three sticky dots per person to prioritise their ideas. The session also included a discussion about definitions: how can we best define an “older adult”? And what is the best way to refer to an “older adult”? Groups then shared their additional outcomes with the larger group, and the posters were collected for display at the launch event.
Results: ranking
The average ranking across the groups was the following, from most important to least important:
- Older adults will have their voices heard about AI.
- Older adults will feel more confident about AI.
- Older adults will feel more confident sharing their views about AI.
- Researchers will better understand older adults’ views on AI.
- The Irish public will better understand how AI affects older adults.
What are we missing?
Participants emphasised the following should be integrated into the expected outcomes of the Age Friendly AI initiative:
- Legislation: Policymakers and decisionmakers must be engaged during the initiative to ensure older adults’ views on AI are integrated and acted on
- Fear and trust: The initiative should support older adults in feeling confident, informed, and safe in their use of AI
- Fact checking: The initiative should support public access to fact-checked, truthful information
- Inclusion: The initiative should consider diverse experiences and support tailored to older adults’ contexts.
Other recurring themes included:
- Understanding: The public should understand AI’s ethics, applications, and limits.
- Right to opt out: People should feel empowered to switch off AI and choose non-AI options.
- Transparency: Clarify where AI begins, who controls it, and how decisions are made.
How can we best define an “older adult”?
During the workshop, we asked participants their thoughts on what the best way to define an “older adult” is.
Definitions didn’t mention specific numbers in terms of age. Instead, participants prefer self-definition rather than age categories. Participants felt strongly that attitudes, fitness and feelings about age vary greatly.
Preferred ways to refer to “older adults” varied greatly too. There was a general sense that it is preferable to communicate about age inclusiveness rather than referring directly to an age group.
Next steps
We are now in the process of analysing the full workshop findings to produce an evaluation plan for the project. We will be seeking feedback on the report from the workshop participants, and the wider public, once it is published.
If you have anything to add at this stage, please email your thoughts to agefriendlyai@adaptcentre.ie
