UCF Researcher Harnesses AI to Help Older Adults Thrive in a Tech-Driven World

Highlights

• As emerging technologies become increasingly integrated into daily life, more than half of older adults in America say technology isn't designed with their age in mind, and many lack confidence in their digital skills.

• UCF Assistant Professor Xiayu Summer Chen is exploring how AI can help bridge that gap, including through research to support caregivers of people with Alzheimer's and dementia.

• Using generative AI, Chen created Wise to AI, a gamified learning platform that teaches older adults about AI and chatbots and helps them recognize when technology is used to scam them.

When Xiayu Summer Chen left home in Canton, China, where she grew up - first for college in Beijing, then for graduate school in New York City - she faced a problem familiar to students everywhere: How do you stay close to family from thousands of miles away

Her challenge came with an added complication. Chen was raised by her grandparents, who had never used social media or FaceTime.

So she turned to the technology she knew best: painting. She drew step-by-step instructions showing them how to use both. When her grandmother died during the COVID-19 pandemic, Chen began creating video tutorials her grandfather could watch on his phone.

She didn't call it research. It was just what you do for the people you love.

"I went from seeing my grandparents as very independent people to watching their functional capacity decrease, and I wanted to do something to help," says Chen, assistant professor of social work in UCF's College of Health Professions and Sciences.

That instinct - helping people remain independent, safe and connected - now drives Chen's research at UCF. She's using generative artificial intelligence to help older adults and their caregivers navigate an increasingly digital world.

Approximately 60% of adults age 50 and older feel that technology isn't designed with their age in mind.

By 2030, one in five Americans will be 65 or older, outnumbering children under the age of 18 for the first time in history, according to U.S. Census Bureau projections. At the same time, more older adults are adopting new technologies. Yet 60% of adults age 50 and older feel that technology isn't designed with their age in mind, citing a lack of confidence in their digital skills and concerns about technology's design, according to AARP's 2026 Tech Trends and Adults 50-Plus report.

"We are living in the digital era," Chen says. "As we use AI more in our daily activities, we have to provide ways for aging populations to learn and adapt just like everybody else."

Improving Digital Literacy for Older Adults

After graduating from New York University in 2019, Chen worked as a patient ambassador at Maimonides Cancer Center. A few months later, COVID-19 hit.

"All of a sudden, our services transitioned from face-to-face to being online, but a lot of my patients were older adults and immigrants who had low digital literacy," she says.

Beyond navigating diagnoses and treatments, patients had to learn how to log in to a telehealth portal, order prescriptions and pay their bills. Chen's job shifted with them, and she spent much of her time walking patients through screens, one click at a time.

"That's when it occurred to me to explore the digital divide and help equip older adults with digital literacy," she says.

Over the past two years, Chen has authored nine journal articles and book chapters examining the digital divide among older adults and the use of technology to address dementia, loneliness and mental health.

Through Wise to AI, users learn about AI and chatbots and how to recognize AI-powered scams.

That work has culminated in Wise to AI, a gamified learning platform Chen built with generative AI. Alongside lessons introducing AI and chatbots, the platform teaches users how to recognize when AI is being used to scam them, guided by a trusty animated dog modeled after Chen's own Shiba Inu, Rumi.

The stakes are real and growing. Americans age 60 and older reported losing $7.7 billion to online scams in 2025 alone - up 59% from the previous year, according to the FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center. Actual losses are likely higher, as many victims never report being scammed.

"I created this game to teach older adults some of the tricks and scams they may experience."

One Wise to AI module tackles the growing problem of AI romance scams. Users choose a persona, such as Rose, and enter a scenario in which Robert, a charming older man she has been talking to online, tells her he's making money by investing in cryptocurrency. A few days later, he offers to help her get started.

Would she send him $500?

Users must decide whether to send the money, think it over, or say no. If they choose incorrectly, the Rumi-inspired avatar steps in and suggests they call a family member first. The family member then warns them not to send a dime.

After completing enough lessons, users earn a certificate.

"I created this game to teach older adults some of the tricks and scams they may experience," says Chen, who plans to pilot the platform in senior living facilities.

Using AI to Support Caregivers

Chen's work extends beyond older adults to the people caring for them.

Last January, Chen and a team of researchers published a study in the Journal of Technology in Human Services investigating how AI could support caregivers of people with Alzheimer's and dementia. Drawing on interviews with caregivers and a review of 20 studies on interactive AI in dementia care, the team concluded that realistic AI-generated human avatars "hold considerable promise as supportive tools."

The findings build on a review Chen co-authored earlier this year in the Aging & Mental Health journal, which found that AI-based conversational agents show strong usability and acceptance among older adults.

To test those findings, Chen is using generative AI to pull information from sources including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Alliance for Caregiving into a series of YouTube videos presented by AI avatars. The videos will cover topics such as shared caregiving and coping with grief and guilt. The team plans to start recruiting caregivers for feedback this fall.

The need is urgent. Caregivers of people with dementia report greater emotional, financial and physical challenges than their peers, according to the Alzheimer's Association's 2026 report. In Florida alone, more than a quarter of dementia caregivers report experiencing depression, the Alzheimer's Association's 2024 report found.

"Some caregivers are quitting their jobs to become full-time caregivers without pay and are experiencing a lot of stress, loneliness, and self-neglect," Chen says. "Instead of having users search for answers via text, we're hoping AI-generated [avatars] can better deliver the content they're looking for."

"If AI is designed in a humanized way, it [could] provide the comfort and companionship … we all need."

Across both projects, Chen is exploring a bigger question: Can AI help address some of the complex challenges facing the growing elderly population and their caregivers?

For Chen, the answer isn't simply about making technology smarter. It's about making it more human.

"More and more older adults are living alone and feeling lonely," she says. "It's getting hard for them to go out and visit community centers and participate in social activities. There are valid concerns about the ethics, equity and transparency of AI, but if AI is designed in a humanized way, it may be able to provide the comfort and companionship that we all need."

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