AI Classes Opening for Senior Citizens

A growing number of courses are teaching U.S. senior citizens about AI.

Transcript

00:0089-year-old Barbara Winston takes careful notes at a special lecture for senior citizens.

00:05She's one of a growing number of older Americans who've become fascinated with AI technology.

00:10As the demand to know more spreads, classes like this one are opening across the United

00:14States.

00:15The technology is so interesting and so important that I really felt I need to be better informed

00:23about it.

00:25So this is the beginning of my education.

00:30There are several reasons for this interest among senior citizens.

00:33One is a desire to keep up to date with developments in the world.

00:37I think this is an emerging technology.

00:40Older adults are future-oriented.

00:41They want to know what's going on.

00:43While there's wonderment at all things AI can do, there's also a need to educate older

00:47adults about the sophisticated new tools scammers use to target them.

00:52The American Association of Retired Persons, or AARP, says Americans over 60 are scammed

00:58out of 23.8 billion U.S. dollars a year through various schemes.

01:02These may involve voice cloning and other technological tricks.

01:06It's tricky to kind of find that right balance.

01:08I would say overall that suspicion that's there on the part of seniors is good, but

01:13I don't want them to become paralyzed by their fears and not be willing to do anything online

01:20because they're afraid of their identity getting stolen.

01:23Not everyone feels the need to go jump on ChatGPT or play with AI image generators once

01:27these classes end.

01:28I do want to know how to use it.

01:31I want to understand it, but it's like a lot of other things.

01:38I like to understand it, but it's not for me.

01:41But everyone leaves with an appreciation for a technology that may well radically change

01:45the world.

01:46Leon Lien and John Van Triest for Taiwan Plus.

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