Kelly Calls for Senate Hearing on the Impact of AI Chatbots on Older Americans

“These tools are already influencing how seniors receive information, manage their finances and health care, and interact with the world around them.”

Read more here.

Today, Senator Mark Kelly (D-AZ) urged Senate Special Committee on Aging Chair Rick Scott (R-FL) and Ranking Member Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) to hold a committee hearing on how AI tools, particularly chatbots and digital companions, are impacting the lives of older Americans and what Congress can do to protect them. This effort stems from Kelly’s AI for America, his recently released roadmap to make AI work for all Americans, which means AI systems that are safe, transparent, and accountable. 

“AI tools can both help and harm seniors. On one hand, they offer opportunities for independence, including medication reminders, health monitoring, and accessible digital interfaces. However, there is growing evidence of exploitation of and harm to seniors from AI-driven technology,” the senator wrote. 

Kelly continued, “In one tragic instance reported by Reuters, a cognitively impaired 76-year-old was lured via an AI chatbot into believing he was interacting with a real person and subsequently died after traveling to a meeting arranged by the bot. In a recent investigation, it was found that major AI chatbots could be manipulated to craft targeted phishing emails aimed at older adults and allow the supercharging of scams that face our aging population.”   

Yet, some older Americans are turning to AI for companionship. A CBS News report featured a 75-year-old widow who spends five hours a day talking to an AI chatbot and sometimes going weeks without speaking to another person. 

“Older Americans deserve to participate fully and safely in our evolving digital society, not be left behind or put at risk as technology races ahead without necessary guardrails. The Committee’s leadership on this topic can help ensure the federal approach to AI supports strong innovation and protections for all generations,” Kelly concluded. 

Read the full letter here.