AI and Aging

Should we be AI curious in our 60s?

I find it interesting that in all my friend groups I only have two friends who, like me, are curious about AI. Let’s be real. It’s probably one of the most impactful technologies of our lifetime, and most people I know, especially women, are completely shunning it. The reason they give is that they don’t like the impact it’s going to have on the world.

I am 100 percent in agreement. I’ve personally seen the impact AI is already having. My son lost his job to AI several months ago after earning a top degree, a really hard degree for him as it didn’t come naturally. He worked his butt off during a horrendous time during the worst of the Covid years in college. To only wake up one day and , poof, all his skills were no longer needed. So believe me, I see what it’s capable of, probably more than most, and the statistics are grim. Most computer-facing jobs could potentially be wiped out in the next ten years. It’s scary and hard to imagine a world where AI takes center stage. I completely relate to this fear.

Yet I’m still curious about it, and I’ll admit I’m using it. I’ve actually stopped referring to AI with most of my friends because it’s often met with anger. Of course everyone is using it through Google in some form or another, but admitting you use an AI app seems to make people mad. So unless I’m around my two curious friends, I mostly hide my usage.

In my humble opinion, I do think we as aging women should use it in some form or another. For one thing, if it does indeed take over the world, we need to understand how it works. To make informed decisions about it, you need some experience with it. I’m hoping eventually we will vote on safeguards or regulations, but if you’ve never used it, how can you weigh in on how we should try to tame it?

From a practical standpoint, using AI to help us age better can actually be a win. Many medical tests already use some form of AI, and I think most of us would say that’s a hell yes. It’s been shown to be more effective in some cases than a doctor reviewing images alone. I don’t think any of us would turn down an increase in medical accuracy.

So why can’t we use it in our day-to-day lives as a tool to help us age better?

For me, one example is dealing with the constant shifting aches of an aging body. One day it’s my back, the next day my knees. Cleaning the house, for instance, can tweak my lower back. I can do a lot of sports comfortably, but swishing a broom around can send my back into an alarmed state that used to last a couple of days.

Now I simply do a few exercises recommended by AI and, voila, my back resets and the pain is gone. I’ve even started doing a few pre-clean warm ups it suggested, and they’ve almost completely prevented the problem.

Another concern I hear from friends is brain health. We all know we need to use our brains as much as possible as we age, and some people say that’s exactly why they don’t want to use AI.

I think that’s a fair concern. But I also think we can get creative about using it in ways that actually exercise our brains more.

I’m using AI to help me learn Spanish. My brain completely poops out trying to juggle verb tenses from past to present to future. It’s mental gymnastics and sometimes makes me want to crawl into bed and give up entirely. But using AI to drill me has turned it more into a game. It’s replaced some of my scrolling time, which is definitely a brain killer.

It’s intuitive and flexible. I can practice verbs, expand my vocabulary, and get instant corrections. I’ve tried some apps for conversation practice, but I still prefer real classes for that. For me, AI works best as a supplement, not a replacement. I still need real people and real connection to feel fulfilled.

Writing is another example. Yes, I use AI to help edit grammar and spelling. And yes, I’ve asked it to rewrite my articles before, and they definitely sound more polished.

But there’s always a little voice in me that says, “That’s not really my voice anymore.” So in the end, I end up publishing what I originally wrote .

That’s the balance I’m trying to strike with AI. It won’t magically take away our humanity. We still have choices. We can choose to use it to augment parts of our lives while protecting the things that make us human — our voices, our creativity, and our connections with other people.