This article was originally published in the Winter 2025 issue of Communities magazine.

Primer on technology and aging: Based on my perceptions of technology when I was kid, by the 21^st century, I expected every family to drive flying cars and have a robotic housekeeper like Rosie on the 1960s TV show The Jetsons. Rosie prepared meals, babysat young Elroy, and offered dating advice to teenager Judy.

That didn’t happen, but most people today still envision robots to help us out and provide companionship, particularly for aging adults. Those innovations make for good headlines. Robot prototypes aren’t close to being practical realities. They’re too expensive and too complicated for everyday use.

I live in a cohousing community [Silver Sage Village] where an underlying philosophy emphasizes human interactions, from maintaining the property together to socializing at community dinners. When the community opened in 2007, the average age was in the 60s. Eighteen years later, that has risen to the 70s and continues to increase. While we continue to help each other out, personal needs increase and interactions decrease. More neighbors spend more time away, as we get the most out of the twilight of our lives. Cohousing is a hedge against loneliness, but how do we cope when our support systems change?

What really matters is that we find tools that are accessible, affordable and adaptable to daily life. For many aging adults as well as their families and caregivers, the simplest technologies are already within reach, sitting on a nightstand or in a pocket.

Practical examples from Alan’s daily life

Smart Speakers: I recently programmed my Amazon Alexa device to remind me to take my medications first thing in the morning and to check my Google calendar. It’s a simple feature, but one that brings peace of mind. There are other similar devices on the market, but Alexa seems to be the most flexible and user-friendly for this kind of purpose. With a few voice commands, it can become a reliable daily companion.

Smartphones: These also hold untapped potential. I’ve lived with post-herpetic neuralgia (PHN) for 11 years. PHN is a chronic pain condition that has resisted every treatment I’ve tried. Recently, I watched a segment on one of the Sunday morning magazine shows about cognitive behavioral therapy for chronic pain. It’s a skills-based treatment that helps people manage chronic pain by changing unhelpful thoughts and behaviors and addressing how emotions, thoughts and actions interact to intensify pain.

I created shortcuts on my iPhone to help me by sending me text message prompts every couple of hours. These nudges remind me to take back some control over my day and mindset. A caregiver or relative could easily set up similar prompts for an older loved one, for encouragement, reminders or even a touch of companionship.

Air tags: There’s also the question of safety. As a member of the Boulder Police Oversight Panel, I once joined a patrol where officers spent two hours searching for a woman with memory issues who had wandered from home. Eventually a family member found her in a neighborhood far from where we were looking.

This experience made me think about Apple Air Tags and similar tracking devices. I used one during a cruise to keep tabs on my luggage, and it worked perfectly. Imagine if a person who was prone to wandering could be discreetly outfitted with such a tag. The reassurance for family members and caregivers would be enormous, giving them confidence and saving critical time in emergencies.

Artificial intelligence: Beyond smart speakers and smartphone shortcuts, AI conversational chatbots can offer a new level of personalized support for older adults. You’ve probably had a chat bubble pop up when you’re finding out how to enter your healthcare portal or are lost on your bank’s website. These are conversational chatbots that are trained with specific information about a hospital or bank. The same technology, while still in its infancy, can be trained with very specific, individualized information:

• Family connections — if someone struggles to recall relatives, the chatbot can be fed short bios and stories so it can gently prompt recognition. For example, “Your granddaughter Emily; she loves painting.”
• Medication guidance — a chatbot can provide clear, step-by-step instructions about medications. For example, “The oblong teal pill is losartan and controls blood pressure, taken orally once a day with breakfast.” This complements reminders from Alexa or a phone.

AI chatbots are usually delivered through a free app on a smartphone or tablet, making setup straightforward. Family members or caregivers can create a user profile, feed in relevant information, and update it as needed. Looking ahead, AI could create a digital companion that blends practical support with gentle companionship and expand to story sharing, adaptive reminders and safety prompts.

Essential human connection

Of course, no technology can replace human companionship. The most effective way to close the loneliness gap will always be through person-to-person interaction, such as visits from family, chats with neighbors, and phone calls from friends. Technology can play a vital supporting role, creating more opportunities for connection, reducing stress for caregivers, and giving older adults tools to feel independent and secure.

Instead of seeing technology as a substitute for community, we can use it as a bridge that blends digital innovation with human compassion, keeping us all closer, safer, and less alone.

Alan O’Hashi is an author and filmmaker based in Boulder, Colorado. The original article in Communities magazine includes some instructions on how to use the tools mentioned in the article.

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