Artificial Intelligence: Your ‘Assistant’ for Navigating Senior Living

Artificial intelligence (AI) is more than just a buzzword — it’s a growing technology that’s reshaping how we do business and live our lives. And it’s particularly relevant for today’s seniors.

So what is AI? Simply put, it’s technology that helps computers learn and make decisions like a person, making them incredibly good at handling tasks quickly and accurately. This allows machines to complete complex tasks with speed and accuracy that can’t be matched by people.

While AI might seem like a recent phenomenon due to its surge in media coverage, it’s actually been around for decades. Chances are it’s been making your life easier without you ever noticing.

AI creates personalized service and experiences

But AI isn’t just about speed; it’s about making your day-to-day life richer. From staying in touch with family, managing money and keeping an eye on health, today’s seniors are discovering new ways to benefit from this life-changing technology.

“AI is personalizing our experiences,” said Mutual of Omaha’s Principal Data Scientist, Nathalie Blume.

“Each person’s data paints a unique profile of their health risks, their leisure preferences and their spending habits, to name a few examples. Companies use this information to serve customers with better precision.”

Here are just a few ways AI is becoming indispensable for seniors:

• Tailored medical advice and activity suggestions
• Smart devices at home that alert them to dangers or unexpected visitors
• Custom workout apps that adapt to their fitness level and track progress
• Educational apps that make learning new things fun and easy

AI: A senior’s personal assistant

Generative AI (a type of AI that creates high-quality text and images) is changing how seniors live by turning AI into a responsive and accessible personal assistant that’s always available.

Seniors with specific questions about health and finances will soon be able to turn to an AI assistant that will help them find answers and navigate new experiences in ways that are empowering and freeing.

“Generative AI is on the cusp of powering personal AI assistants that respond to what we say and give us the ability to perfect the services we get,” Blume said. “What I find especially promising is that these personal AI assistants are also a leap forward in accessibility, which matters a great deal to seniors.”

An AI expert’s advice to seniors

Having computers that can learn and provide us with personalized service and care may seem scary to some. However, Blume encourages everyone — including seniors — to embrace this revolutionary new technology and share their ideas with businesses and service providers on how it can be used to further benefit people.

“Unleash your creativity and share how AI can support you and your needs!” Blume said.  “Companies are on the lookout for innovative ways to tap into the vast potential of generative AI. Your suggestions are not just heard, but eagerly anticipated. Speak up and let your ideas lead the charge in shaping the capabilities of AI.”

At Mutual of Omaha, teams of data scientists and engineers are working to leverage AI for the benefit of our customers in a safe and trustworthy manner.

“Many of our applications have to do with speeding up tasks and improving the quality of our work,” Blume said. “Our customers may not always see everything we do with AI, but they always benefit from it.”

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