The evolution of AI didn’t happen overnight. Like leaders, it responds to challenges and attempts to come up with solutions. We have seen enterprise AI evolve in the workplace, boosting productivity and streamlining our workload. But that’s just the tip of the iceberg. In healthcare, we are witnessing AI in action like never before, this time for our elderly.
As it stands, the human population is getting older while birth rates shrink. The question on everybody’s lips is who or what is going to fill that gap when it comes to patient care?
Well, the answer may just lie in AI. By 2040, in the UK, nearly 1 in 4 people will be aged 65+, a seismic demographic shift that’s too big to ignore.. This presents an opportunity for companies to get creative and think beyond sales targets and revenue. Instead of chasing numbers, conscientious leaders will think about the bigger picture and how they can make a positive social impact within their community and address the aging population with forward-thinking solutions.
It might feel a bit overwhelming at first, where do you even start with something as big as ageing and loneliness? But the truth is, we’re surrounded by information, ideas, and tools that can help. What really matters is being open, open to new ways of thinking, to trying things that haven’t been done before, and to caring about problems that might not affect you personally.
Because that’s where real change happens. When we stop and ask, “What if this were me or someone I love?” we start to see the role technology can play in making life better, more connected, and more human for everyone.
What is Tech for Good?
Tech for Good isn’t just a buzzword, it’s a mindset. It’s about using innovation to tackle real problems in the world and bringing in diverse perspectives to achieve it. Take loneliness in older people, for example. It’s not new, but it’s getting worse, made harder by the pandemic, the way we’ve shifted how we communicate, and how fast technology is moving.
The reality is, many older people are being left behind. Some feel disconnected from the digital world, while others aren’t interested or don’t know where to begin. Add that to the mix of declining health, limited mobility, and changes in community spaces, and it’s no wonder isolation and mental health issues are on the rise.
There’s always been fear around technology; the old “robots taking over the world” idea made it easy to dismiss what tech could really do. But for people like me, who believe in its power, AI isn’t something to be afraid of. It’s a tool, one that, if used with care and intention, could help us reconnect with those who need it most.
Fulfilling the Gap in Patient Care
With an increasing ageing population comes of course, an increasing demand for patient care at home. Shockingly, approximately 131,000 adult social care vacancies were unfilled across England in 2023/24, representing an 8.3% vacancy rate, meaning nearly one in every twelve roles is empty. Throw in some government legislation on immigration, restricting foreign care workers in the UK, and we’re heading down a slippery slope. For those patients at home who don’t have family support around the clock, or a public health carer visiting them a few times a week, what are their options? Before we answer that, let’s look at a country with a huge ageing population, and how they are supporting those people using modern technology.
In Japan, where the elderly population is among the largest globally, AI-powered companion robots have become surprisingly common. One model, shaped like a baby seal, responds to touch, sound, and light, and has been shown to reduce stress in dementia patients. These robots don’t simulate deep conversation, but they offer something else: a sense of presence. For people who might go hours or days without seeing another person, that presence, however artificial, can have a grounding, calming effect.
So, while I advocate for tech to be used to fill the gaps in human care, I certainly don’t believe it should replace it. The companion AI technology used in Japan, and in other place the world should be used as a support tool to enhance existing care frameworks and plug those gaps so people over 60 living at home still have a voice checking in on them, and in some cases, ‘someone’ to chat to when they’re feeling a bit lonely.
How To Teach AI To Care
Modern AI tools can be trained to pick up on how someone is feeling just by how they speak and respond empathetically through specifically centred LLM’s or Large Language Models If a voice sounds slower, more hesitant, or sad, the system can gently shift the context and tone of its responses. Some platforms even track changes in emotional patterns over time and notify caregivers if something seems and in specific situations using Few Shot Learning is exceptionally effective. This subtle use of machine learning helps create a more human-feeling or anthropomorphic interaction coupled with customised voice personas and idiomatic speech to deliver the dialectal context or Localisation which adds another layer to personalised care – not only is the person being spoken to, but in a voice and with an accent that’s familiar to them. This is next-level innovation that is capturing the human spirit but the key to all of this is balance and ensuring the fine line between total anthropormophism and slightly robotic responses are maintained to help users differentiate between human and machine based responses, essential in the world of deep fake voices.
From Idea to Implementation – How To Get Started
Your company may be using AI internally already, perhaps to help scale up or enhance productivity. It’s time to think externally. There is so much more we can be doing to improve our wider communities.
If you are based or located near a rural area, AI can become a lifeline as services are stretched thin and resources become scarce. To solve this issue, grants and partnerships with public health departments can be established to help get these tools into the hands of those who need them most. When profit isn’t the motive, the goals can be simpler: reduce suffering, foster connection, and bring a little more dignity to people’s lives. It doesn’t need to be high budget either. Virtual meetings between healthcare providers and patients can minimise the disruption involved when getting to appointments and AI can summarise the discussion and offer practical suggestions as a result. When you are dealing with multiple health concerns, the jargon can get confusing. This way, both recipient and family can be reassured and important information doesn’t get lost.
Demystifying Data Privacy
Data Privacy is ever growing in importance, and whilst AI is truly a double-edged sword where AI is used by malicious actors to initiate nefarious actions AI definitely has the power to do immense good. Data Privacy laws including the UK’s Data Privacy Act 2018, PSIT Act of 2024, and of course the more widely known GDPR legislation covering the EU and accepted by the UK are a very good start in defining the ‘guardrails’ of what responsible companies should do as a minimum best practice with respect to data security, especially personal healthcare data but the real key lies in establishing, documenting and regularly reviewing the procedures and policies every individual and organisation working in this brave new world needs to already have in place to safely work. The UK’s Artificial Intelligence Bill (not yet promulgated) and the EU’s AI Act of 2025 will have a direct bearing on UK companies working in Northern Ireland and The Republic of Ireland; these are a good place to start as we all, including legislators and regulators, develop the additional legal and best practice ‘guardrails’ that will become ever more vital to ensure fairness, data security, privacy and not least our individual humanity.
Final Thoughts
There’s a lot of noise around AI, some people are excited, others are worried but when it’s used with care and real intention, especially by those who genuinely want to make a difference, the results can be powerful. We shouldn’t see AI as a replacement for the people who’ve built careers out of caring for others, but rather as a powerful helping hand; a tool that augments but never replaces. The industry and thought leaders who really believe in their vision won’t shy away from this. They’ll lean in, using tech to build a future that’s not just smarter, but kinder, one that keeps our older generation better connected, valued, and truly present whilst living better more meaningful lives.
