Technology, Artificial Intelligence, and Aging: Psychological Dimensions of Well-Being, Autonomy, and Social Connectedness

The rapid growth of digital technologies—from wearable health monitors and telehealth platforms to AI-driven care tools and smart home systems—is transforming how older adults manage health, maintain relationships, and sustain independence. Yet the psychological experience of navigating this technology-rich environment remains poorly understood. How do older adults interpret, adapt to, and derive meaning—or experience loss of meaning—in systems rarely designed for them?Grounded in the psychology of aging, this Research Topic centers not on technology itself but on older adults as psychological agents with life experience, changing cognitive capacities, evolving social roles, and deeply held values about autonomy and dignity. Moving beyond a narrow focus on specific tools like AI chatbots, this collection adopts a broader, person-centered lens. It examines diverse technologies across health, social life, and daily functioning, emphasizing the cognitive, emotional, motivational, and social processes that shape how older adults engage with and experience these technologies.A central focus is on technology engagement as a psychological experience situated within the lifespan. This means attending to older adults' subjective perceptions of technology, the identity and self-concept implications of adoption or non-adoption, the role of prior life experience and generational cohort in shaping attitudes, and the ways in which technology use intersects with core developmental concerns of later life, including generativity, integrity, and the maintenance of a coherent self in the face of physical and cognitive change. This Research Topic is equally interested in the experiences of those who are excluded from the digital landscape, and what that exclusion means for psychological well-being, health equity, and social participation. This topic explicitly complements rather than overlaps with existing work on conversational AI as a mental health delivery mechanism. Rather than evaluating AI tools as clinical interventions, this topic asks: What does it mean psychologically to be an older person in a world permeated by AI and digital systems? How do older adults experience, resist, accept, and adapt to technologies that increasingly mediate care, connection, and control?Areas of interest include, but are not limited to:• Technology adoption and the aging self: identity, self-concept, generational experience, acceptance, resistance, and adaptation.• Autonomy and agency: how smart homes, monitoring tools, telehealth, and AI-mediated decisions affect perceived control and self-efficacy.• Digital exclusion: psychological consequences of unequal access, low confidence, privacy concerns, or cognitive barriers.• Social connectedness: how digital communication affects loneliness, belonging, relationship quality, and intergenerational ties.• Caregiver psychology: how technology changes caregiver burden, competence, trust, and relational dynamics.Manuscripts should make a primary contribution to the psychology of aging, rather than focusing mainly on technology design, technical AI development, clinical efficacy, or implementation science. Topic editors: Jeong Eun Lee, Kyungmin Kim Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/81042/technology-artificial-intelligence-and-aging-psychological-dimensions-of-well-being-autonomy-and-social-connectedness