The University of Michigan polled older adult responders – and the results are in. In a recent survey of more than 1000 adults aged 50+, the University of Michigan poll, fielded inside Michigan and nationwide, demonstrates that Artificial Intelligence technology is useful to older adults – and that they are not intimidated by it. As with other studies, those with less education had somewhat less trust in AI-enabled information, and those with health disabilities also were somewhat less trusting of the information they found. (Source: July, 2025 University of Michigan AI Poll).
Half of the responders are comfortable using AI-powered smart devices. The Michigan pollsters compared responses to a nationwide responder group and found them to be similar. In addition, they found that the 50-64 age group had a higher confidence level than those aged 65+. As with other tech, confidence level for use of AI was higher among those with higher incomes. This will likely change as all become aware of its utility -- and that it is in nearly technology they use today or will use tomorrow.
Ubiquity of AI technology – it’s (nearly) everywhere. Today, 77% of devices incorporate some sort of AI. It is possible to find disappointment and critiques everywhere, but it’s utility is undisputed – for the 67 million who use ChatGPT, for the 87 million who bought Amazon’s smart speakers in 2024, for the 400 million Google Gemini users who found, just in time, that it transformed the search experience, and for everyone else who can use one or the other of an AI tool on their smartphones.
What will happen within the next few years – we’ll stop talking about it as a ‘thing.’ It will be part of the technology infrastructure that we all expect (and expect to work!) in our daily lives – at home, work, shopping, driving, learning new skills, finding work and workers, improving our health and obtaining better healthcare. We will deploy specialized AI agents to do work on our behalf. For every constraint and limitation that the determined media staffer researches and finds, someone else, professional or amateur, finds a benefit that improves the quality of the information or service. Very few technology investments in history (including the Internet) ‘paid off’ in the near term after invention or investment. Remember dial-up modem access – finally discontinued by AOL – was the Internet even worth accessing in those early years? But all persisted – and now it’s on your watch, your smartphone, and even in your appliances.
