Area communities offer tech to residents
When Inspīr Embassy Row open this spring in Dupont Circle, technology will be in place to help residents and staff.
Photo courtesy of Maplewood Senior Living
In fact, some basic AI technologies are already being implemented in our area. Within the caregiving community, AI is transforming from a luxury to a necessity, according to Laurie Orlov’s 2023 AI and the Future of Care Work report.
One recent development is the AI Caregiver, an interactive model where a virtual sitter replaces an in-home nurse. Paired with telehealth monitoring, this tool could save the cost of hiring someone 24/7. Its inventors boast that it can predict a hospitalization a week in advance by crunching data from sensors and wearable devices.
AI in use locally
Wristbands, necklaces and other health-related devices are already in use at Maplewood Senior Living’s retirement communities. Its Inspīr Embassy Row luxury property will open this spring in Dupont Circle.
Inspīr residents can choose to wear these predictive health-monitoring devices on their wrists or wheelchairs. Each apartment will include an AI-powered voice assistant to answer any questions. There’s also a Life Story Project available, which uses AI to help write a resident’s memoir.
In addition, the property’s Machine Vision AI Safety System uses smart cameras to detect health emergencies. Maplewood staff also use AI in a number of ways to streamline administrative tasks.
But the company says it won’t lose its human touch.
“AI is poised to revolutionize how we deliver care and services to our residents in the years ahead,” Brian Geyser, vice president of Enterprise Intelligence at Maplewood, said in a statement.
“While we are proud to be leading the way in this transformative journey, we remain deeply committed to a human-centric approach — ensuring that innovation enhances, rather than replaces, the personal connections that are at the heart of exceptional senior care.”
Even basic AI found on cellphones and various devices — such as Alexa from Amazon, Siri from Apple and Google Assistant — can support independent living communities or people living at home. In fact, it already does.
Residents of Atria Senior Living’s Ridge at Sterling, a retirement community in Sterling, Virginia, use Amazon’s Alexa technology, according to Atria’s CTO Chris Nall. A small device with a screen that sits on a tabletop allows “Alexa” to answer questions about upcoming events and what’s for dinner, Nall said, “but it can also call for help.”
Amazon sells “Alexa Smart Properties for Senior Living” to retirement communities looking to improve staff efficiency and provide interaction for residents. “We want to focus on how to help senior living customers feel independent,” said Anoop Achuta, senior product manager at Amazon.
Tech growing more interactive
At Veterans Home Care, based in Missouri, about 50 patients use the technology. They can speak to Alexa to turn on the lights, lower the level of their beds or control the room temperature.
As for interactive conversations, today’s technology is still rudimentary, asking simple questions like, “How are you feeling today, one through five?” Someday, AI will interact with clients more intuitively, said David Laiderman, CEO of Veterans Home Care.
For example, if a patient with a specific illness reports swollen ankles, AI could save their health data and later use it to advise a similar patient somewhere else, Laiderman said.
While the technology is still in its early stages, Laiderman is encouraged by his clients’ positive response to the AI so far. “We see them taking a really unique discovery-approach,” he said.
A device that makes pleasant inquiries may ease the loneliness that often accompanies old age. After all, interacting with Alexa is like carrying on a conversation, which could help older adults feel more connected.
Classes for older adults
The big question is whether or not older adults will be receptive to AI. Some older adults are eager to learn about the technology, if only as a novelty, not a necessity.
Chicagoan Michael Yublosky and his wife, Judy, teach a weekly Zoom class on AI tools for older adults. More than 100 from throughout the country participate, eager to learn about AI.
In one class, Yublosky opened an AI interface tool called Copilot and spoke to the computer. To his students’ surprise, Copilot responded aloud.
He asked Copilot to generate an image of a monkey in a tuxedo, then to fix the image by adding a top hat. His students watched through the screen, captivated.
“Then they started asking more questions,” Yublosky said.
When one person wanted to edit an article, he turned to an AI assistant called Claude. When his students asked, “How should we start?” he said, “I told them, ‘Get in and try it!’”
Yublosky found that there is an AI tool for a wide variety of forms of entertainment. “Want to analyze an article? Go to Claude. Want to generate art? Go to NightCafe,” Yublosky said, “There are AI tools for mindfulness, video generation, music.”
Once they learn a little about the technology, he said, they can dive in. ”But [older adults] don’t know what they don’t know.
“One participant told me, ‘I went down this rabbit hole!’ after I’d introduced her to NightCafe, an AI art generator,” Yublosky said. She experimented with the platform, even participating in a NightCafe contest, where she placed ninth out of more than 500 people. She sounded so proud,” Yublosky said.
Risks to be wary of
Of course, Yublosky and others are well aware of AI’s risks, which include security threats and scams. Yublosky warns his students to use an alias email and conceal their personal information.
And if you’re ever contacted by someone asking for money, hang up, even if it’s a face-to-face video call from someone who looks like a friend or relative. It’s a good idea to create a “safe word” with your family members so you know it’s them calling you. (See “Beware AI-generated audio, video fakes” in the August 2024 Beacon.)
Yublosky’s approach in leading his AI workshops is to empower older adults with the tools to solve their problems themselves, he said — “to teach them how to fish.”
It appears his approach is working. Recently, an older adult in his class sent Yublosky an enthusiastic email recounting an AI-related success with Copilot.
The subject line? “I caught a fish!”
