Is AI ageist? Researchers examine impact of technology on older users

Researchers from the University of Toronto and University of Cambridge are looking into the ways ageism - prejudice against individuals based on age - can be encoded into technologies such as artificial intelligence, which many of us now encounter daily. This age-related bias in AI, also referred to as "digital ageism," is explored in a new paper led by Charlene Chu , an affiliate scientist at the Toronto Rehabilitation Institute's KITE research arm, part of the University Health Network (UHN), and an assistant professor at the Lawrence S. Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing. Charlene Chu - The paper was recently published in The Gerontologist , the leading journal of gerontology. "The COVID-19 pandemic has heightened our awareness of how dependent our society is on technology," says Chu says. "Huge numbers of older adults are turning to technology in their daily lives which has created a sense of urgency for researchers to try to understand digital ageism, and the risks and harms associated with AI biases."  Chu and her research team consisting of legal scholars, computer scientists, philosophers and social scientists in bioethics and gerontology, note that stereotypes are deeply ingrained in AI algorithms, with recent research focusing on examples of racial and gender-based bias. Solutions to address AI bias, however, are not simple, says Chu. She and her team suggest that there are series of "cycles of injustice" that occur in technology development, from early-stage design to testing and implementation.