Engaging Older Adults’ coMmunities in AI awareness, Literacy, and Education – EMILE-AI

The rapid evolution of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Large Language Models (LLMs) offers significant opportunities to enhance healthcare services, particularly for older adults (OAs) with specific needs. However, these technologies raise ethical, societal, and regulatory challenges. The EMILE-AI project adopts a "Research-Action" approach, involving OAs as active participants in the development, testing, and regulation of AI tools tailored to their needs.
The primary objective of EMILE-AI is to foster collaboration between researchers, healthcare professionals, AI developers, and OAs to co-create literacy modules and ethical frameworks for healthcare tools using AI and LLM-based applications. The participatory research will address technical and ethical dimensions, emphasizing inclusivity, transparency, and trust for vulnerable populations.
The project is structured around four key tasks, designed to foster collaboration and build solutions that integrate perspectives from OAs, healthcare professionals, AI experts, and civil society stakeholders. These tasks will ensure actionable results within 18 months, positioning EMILE-AI for scalability and future funding.
Task 1: Creation of a multi-stakeholder working group including healthcare providers, AI developers, OAs, caregivers, ethics experts, and civil society organizations. This group will collaboratively define the research questions, methodologies, and ethical considerations for AI and LLM applications in healthcare for OAs. The diverse perspectives will guide the research-action process.
Task 2: State of the art review on AI and LLM applications for older adults: A state-of-the-art review will be conducted, focusing on AI and LLM applications in healthcare for OAs. The review will examine previous public involvement initiatives to identify successful participatory approaches, providing the foundational knowledge needed to develop ethical AI tools.
Task 3: Development and pilot implementation of an introductory, accessible AI literacy module: An AI literacy module will be created to introduce OAs and relevant stakeholders to AI and LLM technologies in healthcare. The module will cover basic AI concepts, ethical considerations, and LLM roles in healthcare. It will be pilot tested with 40 OAs and 20 relevant stakeholders, including caregivers and healthcare professionals, to assess its accessibility, relevance, and effectiveness in improving AI literacy.
Task 4: Consolidation and scaling strategy for national and European expansion: After the initial phase, the project will consolidate a consortium and develop a strategy to scale the project nationally and at the European level. Partnerships will be formed with key institutions (academic, industry, healthcare providers, patient organizations) and funding bodies for national expansion (ANR, Inria, BPI). For European expansion, the project will target EU funding calls in 2025, positioning EMILE-AI as a competitive initiative within Horizon Europe and other frameworks.
The EMILE-AI project will be jointly coordinated by the Geriatric Care and Technology Research Team led by Pr. Anne-Sophie Rigaud at Broca Hospital (AP-HP, Université Paris Cité), which has extensive experience experimenting with robotics and AI applications to improve healthcare for older adults, and the Centre d'Expertise en Stimulation Cognitive (CEN STIMCO), led by Dr. Maribel Pino and established by CNSA, specializing in innovative technologies and participatory approaches using Living Lab expertise.
EMILE-AI is one of the first initiatives combining participatory research with AI and LLM deployment in healthcare for vulnerable populations. By co-designing solutions with older adults, the project ensures AI tools align with real-world needs and ethical considerations. This innovative approach enhances AI literacy among vulnerable groups and bridges the gap between advanced technology and societal well-being.