Artificial intelligence is rapidly moving from novelty to infrastructure, but its benefits are not landing evenly across age groups. New research shows that younger people are far more likely to say AI makes their lives easier, while older adults often see limited value or even new burdens. That gap is not just about who grew up with smartphones, it is about trust, design, and whether AI is solving the problems that matter most to people in their 50s, 60s, 70s, and beyond.
I see a clear pattern emerging: younger users are embracing AI as a flexible assistant, while many older adults are still weighing whether the technology is worth the effort and risk. The question is no longer whether there is a generational divide, but what is driving it and how much of it is baked into the tools themselves rather than the people using them.
Generational splits in AI usefulness are now impossible to ignore
The sharpest signal of this divide comes from new global research that directly compares how different age groups use and value AI. In that work, more than 50% of people under 35 reported that they actively use AI tools, and more than 75% said those tools are useful in their daily lives. Those two figures, 50% and 75%, capture a simple reality: for many younger adults, AI is already part of the basic toolkit for work, study, and entertainment, not a speculative future technology.
Older adults, by contrast, are far less likely to describe AI as useful, even when they have access to the same devices and services. According to new research from Cisco, summarized in a report on new research, younger users under 35 are the ones who most often say AI is useful, while older users are more likely to report that they rarely use it or do not see clear benefits. The same research links those attitudes to broader concerns about digital wellbeing, suggesting that skepticism among older adults is tied not only to unfamiliarity but also to worries about privacy, misinformation, and mental health.
What the OECD-Cisco survey tells us about age and AI adoption
Behind those topline numbers sits a detailed survey that helps explain why the gap is so wide. The OECD-Cisco project gathered responses from people in multiple countries and asked not just whether they use AI, but how often, for what purposes, and with what emotional impact. The finding that more than 50% of under-35s actively use AI and more than 75% say it is useful is not a loose estimate, it is a precise snapshot of how deeply tools like chatbots, recommendation systems, and automated assistants have already penetrated younger people’s routines.
Generational splits are described in that survey as “equally stark” when it comes to digital wellbeing, with younger users more likely to say AI helps them manage information and productivity, and older users more likely to say it adds complexity or stress. The research notes that these divides are not inevitable, a point underlined by Cisco executive Guy Diedrich, but they are real enough to shape policy and product design today. The survey’s framing of AI as both a productivity tool and a wellbeing risk is captured in the OECD-Cisco research, which makes clear that age is now one of the strongest predictors of how people experience AI.
Older adults are curious about AI, but still feel like beginners
It would be a mistake to assume that older adults are simply uninterested in AI. Survey work focused specifically on people over 50 shows that most older adults have heard of AI and can name at least one way it appears in their lives, from voice assistants in smart speakers to automated fraud alerts from their banks. At the same time, many of those respondents describe themselves as beginners, unsure of how to get the most out of tools that younger relatives treat as second nature.
One detailed look at this group finds that older adults are “Open to AI” even as they wrestle with the basics of how it works and what it can do. Although most older adults consider themselves beginners when it comes to using AI, they are open to taking small risks, such as trying a new shopping assistant or letting a navigation app suggest a different route, if they can see a clear payoff. That mix of caution and curiosity is captured in an in-depth AI survey of older users, which shows that awareness is high but confidence is still catching up.
How older users actually use AI in daily life
When I look at how older adults describe their real-world AI use, a pattern emerges that is very different from the under-35 crowd. Instead of experimenting with generative chatbots for creative writing or coding, many older users are leaning on AI in narrow, practical ways: asking a smart speaker to set medication reminders, letting a streaming service suggest a movie, or using a fraud detection alert from a credit card company. These are targeted, low-friction interactions that do not require learning a new interface or jargon.
Survey data shows that older adults see particular value in AI for tasks like shopping assistance, where recommendation engines can help them compare prices or find products that match specific needs, such as low-sodium foods or adaptive clothing. One section of the research notes that most older adults have heard of AI and recognize its value in shopping assistance, even if they do not always label those features as “AI” in conversation. That nuance appears in a focused analysis of older adults’ AI habits, which suggests that the usefulness gap is partly semantic: older users are already benefiting from AI, but they do not always see those benefits as part of the broader AI story.
Trust, control, and the fear of being replaced
Even when older adults use AI, they often do so with a wary eye on what might be lost. Concerns about automation replacing human workers, especially in roles that older adults rely on, such as drivers, caregivers, and customer service agents, weigh heavily on how they judge AI’s value. Many older users are less enthusiastic about features like self-driving cars or fully automated call centers, not because they dislike technology in general, but because they worry about safety, accountability, and the erosion of human contact.
Those anxieties surface clearly in research that asks older adults about AI replacing drivers and other frontline workers. Respondents express unease about a future in which AI systems make life-or-death decisions on the road or in hospitals while policies struggle to keep pace. One section of the same survey highlights that as for AI replacing drivers, older adults are particularly skeptical, especially when they feel that regulations and safety standards are lagging behind the technology. That tension between innovation and oversight is spelled out in a detailed look at older adults’ concerns, which shows that trust and perceived control are central to whether they find AI useful or threatening.
AI ageism and the “algorithm awareness” gap
There is another layer to this story that goes beyond individual preference: structural ageism baked into how AI is designed and deployed. Researchers studying “AI ageism” argue that older adults are often treated as an afterthought in both datasets and product testing, which can lead to systems that work less well for them or even discriminate outright. When interfaces assume perfect vision, quick reflexes, or constant connectivity, they implicitly favor younger users and make it harder for older people to experience AI as genuinely helpful.
Further, Gran and colleagues suggest that the familiar “digital divide” is now facing a new frontier, which they describe as awareness of algorithms. In their work, the authors used algorithm-focused research methods to show that older adults are less likely to understand when and how automated systems are shaping what they see online, from news feeds to insurance offers. That lack of algorithm awareness can leave older users more vulnerable to bias and less able to contest unfair outcomes, a dynamic explored in depth in a roadmap on AI ageism. When people do not know an algorithm is at work, it is much harder for them to judge whether it is useful, which helps explain why older adults may feel that AI is something done to them rather than a tool they can shape.
Search, information overload, and why AI summaries divide Americans
Search is one of the most visible places where AI is changing everyday life, and it offers a clear window into generational differences. AI-generated summaries at the top of search results promise to save time by condensing long pages into a few key points. For younger users who are already comfortable skimming and cross-checking information, that can feel like a welcome shortcut. For older adults, the same feature can feel like a black box that hides sources and makes it harder to verify what they are reading.
Survey data on search behavior shows that Americans who have seen AI summaries in search results are lukewarm about their value. One-in-five say they find the information from AI summaries very useful, which means four-in-five do not put it in that top category. That split is especially important for older adults, who are more likely to rely on search for health, finance, and government information where accuracy is critical. The finding that Americans are cautious about trusting AI-generated overviews is detailed in a study of AI summaries in search, which underscores how skepticism about AI’s usefulness is tied to deeper questions about transparency and verification.
Designing AI that actually works for older adults
If older adults are less likely to find AI useful, part of the blame lies with how products are built. Many AI interfaces assume a level of experimentation and trial-and-error that feels natural to younger users but intimidating to someone who did not grow up with touchscreens. When a chatbot expects users to craft the perfect prompt or a smart home app buries key settings behind multiple menus, it effectively filters out people who are less confident or who have motor or cognitive challenges.
There are, however, clear opportunities to close that gap. The same surveys that document skepticism among older adults also highlight areas where they see real promise, such as health monitoring, fraud prevention, and transportation assistance. If AI tools are designed with larger text, clearer explanations, and straightforward controls, and if they are tested with older users from the start, the perceived usefulness of AI could rise quickly in this group. The OECD-Cisco survey’s conclusion that generational divides in digital and AI adoption are not inevitable, echoed in the Cisco-backed research, is not just a hopeful slogan, it is a design challenge.
Closing the usefulness gap will shape AI’s future
The emerging picture is not of two separate worlds, one where young people thrive with AI and another where older adults opt out entirely. Instead, I see overlapping but unequal experiences, shaped by design choices, policy gaps, and long-standing stereotypes about age and technology. Younger users are more likely to say AI is useful because the tools are built with them in mind and because they have more practice navigating digital systems that change quickly.
For AI to deliver on its promise as a broadly beneficial technology, that imbalance will have to change. That means confronting AI ageism in datasets and interfaces, investing in education that builds algorithm awareness among older adults, and prioritizing use cases that solve concrete problems for people at every stage of life. The research on older adults’ openness to AI, from shopping assistance to safer transportation, documented in the AARP-focused survey, suggests that the demand is there. The real test for the AI industry is whether it can turn that cautious interest into tools that older users not only adopt, but genuinely trust and value.
More from MorningOverview