“If Alexa knew the state I was in, it would cry”: Older Adults’ Perspectives of Voice Assistants for Health

AI-powered technologies are increasingly being leveraged in health and care practices for aging populations. However, we lack research about older adults perceptions of AI-driven health in long-term care settings. This paper investigates older adults’ perceptions of how one AI-powered technology, voice assistants, should be used for personal health management. We interviewed 10 older adults living in an assisted living community in the U.S. to explore their values around AI for health. Findings show that they value technologies that generate and share positive and relational health information. We use this emphasis on positive health representations to speculate on a critical refusal of negative health representations. We highlight this preference in contrast to existing deficit-based health tracking technologies for aging and discuss how researchers, developers, and designers can engage in better approaches to AI-driven health for older adults and other historically marginalized populations.