Seniors Facing AI: Fear, Caution… or Potential? – August 2025

When we talk about artificial intelligence (AI), we often picture hyper-connected young people who are comfortable with digital tools. However, a significant portion of the active population is over 50. How do seniors perceive AI? Are they wary of it? Do they adopt it? Do they ignore it? Between legitimate distrust and adaptive power, this demographic deserves more than clichés. What if they were one of the driving forces behind a more human AI?

Distrust or clarity? Seniors’ caution is a strength

Many seniors don’t rush into new technologies. Is this a rejection of progress? Not necessarily. It’s often a form of wisdom: before using a tool, you still need to understand its purpose and limitations. This cautious approach may seem slow, but it avoids many pitfalls.

Seniors ask questions others no longer dare to ask: What is it for? Who controls the tool? What happens to my job? They’ve witnessed other technological revolutions. They know that innovation doesn’t always equate to progress. This long-term memory is invaluable. It offers a welcome critical distance at a time when AI pushes us to go ever faster.

A force of experience to reactivate

Contrary to popular belief, many seniors are perfectly capable of using AI. What’s missing isn’t the ability to learn, but often appropriate support. Once properly guided, they can become powerful users, even transmitters of best practices.

Why? Because they have on-the-ground knowledge of their field, of collective processes. AI, used as support and not as a replacement, can allow them to leverage this experience. Some seniors are embracing AI to organise their work, prepare summaries, automate tedious tasks… and gain comfort without losing their autonomy. For this to happen, they must be included in the design and training. Too often, tools are designed for them, without them. And we forget that adoption comes through respect.

What if AI shouldn’t exclude seniors, but instead extend a hand to them? Their caution is a strength, their experience a lever. For AI to become an inclusive tool, let’s start by asking a simple question: what can we learn from our elders? Do you work with seniors? And how do you incorporate their perspective into your use of AI?

Christian Rolando

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