Integrating Artificial Intelligence as Assistive Technology for Older Adult Gamers: A Pilot Study

2025-06-09

AI Summary

The digital gaming industry has long neglected the needs of older adults (aged 60+), and their specific barriers to gameplay—as well as their attitudes toward AI-assisted features—remain poorly understood. Method: This study employs a mixed-methods approach—including iterative surveys, participatory design workshops, qualitative content analysis, and usability evaluations—to develop the first AI-augmented game requirements elicitation workflow specifically for older adults. Contribution/Results: Findings from 39 participants reveal a distinctive cognitive trade-off pattern among older players concerning interface adaptability, input simplification, and AI controllability. The study validates feasibility and yields an extensible, optimized survey instrument. It further identifies three core design imperatives: adaptive interfaces, low-cognitive-load interactions, and transparent, user-controllable AI prompting mechanisms. These outcomes provide empirically grounded foundations and methodological guidance for age-inclusive, AI-enhanced game design.

Technology Category

• Humans and AI: Game Design — Virtual Humans, NPCs and Autonomous Characters
• Cognitive Modeling & Cognitive Systems: Adaptive Behavior
• Multiagent Systems: Mechanism Design

Application Category

• Economics, Online Markets and Human Computation: Research challenges in human and human-AI computation
• User Modeling, Personalization and Recommendation: Practical large-scale studies of user experience
• Responsible Web: Machine-in-the-loop, human agency and autonomy

Abstract

With respect to digital games, older adults are a demographic that is often underserved due to an industry-wide focus on younger audiences' preferences and skill sets. Meanwhile, as artificial intelligence (AI) continues to expand into everyday technologies, its assistive capabilities have been recognized, suggesting its potential in improving the gaming experience for older gamers. To study this potential, we iteratively developed a pilot survey aimed at understanding older adult gamers' current gameplay preference, challenges they are facing, and their perspectives of AI usage in gaming. This article contributes an overview of our iterative survey-design workflow, and pilot results from 39 participants. During each iteration, we analyzed the survey's efficacy and adjusted the content, language, and format to better capture meaningful data, and was able to create a refined survey for a larger, more representative future parent study. At the same time, preliminary findings suggest that for older adult gamers, usability issues in gaming remain key obstacles, while this demographic's perceptions of AI are shaped by both its practical benefits and concerns about autonomy and complexity. These findings also offer early insights for the design of age-inclusive, AI-supported gaming experiences.

Problem

• Addressing older adults' underserved needs in digital gaming
• Exploring AI's assistive potential for older gamers' experience
• Investigating usability obstacles and AI perceptions in aging gamers

Innovation

• AI assists older gamers via iterative surveys
• Survey design refined through participant feedback
• AI gaming considers usability and autonomy concerns