Introduction: Social connectedness is a critical determinant for well-being in later life. While Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) offer potential solutions to foster social interaction, their effectiveness for older adults is often limited by inadequate age-friendly designs.
Purpose: This study developed and evaluated a novel AI-enhanced digital storytelling platform specifically designed to address this gap. Powered by AI-generated techniques, this innovative platform vividly transforms old photographs into new scenarios across time and places, inspiring and empowering older adults to document and share their life stories across generations.
Method: To evaluate the platform's efficacy in facilitating social connection, we conducted four in-person focus groups with a total of N = 15 older adults (M age = 68.47, SD = 4.31) and N = 12 younger adults (M age = 22.17, SD = 3.30) to share detailed feedback after engaging with the platform.
Results: It revealed strong positive receptivity to the platform. Participants across both age groups reported increased positive attitudes towards AI and positive emotions, including happiness, meaningfulness, interest, and inspiration, alongside diminished levels of boredom and fear. Moreover, both age groups identified the platform acts as a powerful social catalyst by creating common ground for discussion, encouraging cross-generational storytelling, and inspiring collaborative activities. Notably, algorithmic aversion, a common barrier to the adoption of novel AI tools, was not observed in this study. Instead, both age groups demonstrated high acceptance of the platform. And qualitative analysis further revealed that participants expressed enthusiasm for the future developments of the platform, such as adding more features to enhance vividness and encourage joint participation across generations.
Conclusions: These findings indicate that the platform promoted interpersonal connections via its effective age-friendly AI technology. The study demonstrates the significant potential of well-integrated and user-centered AI tools to enhance social well-being for older adults.