From access to agency: Empowering older adults for critical AI use

Efforts to bridge the digital divide for older adults have prioritized access and interface usability. However, the proliferation of generative AI introduces interpretive challenges that access alone cannot address. This Forum article argues that digital inclusion must evolve from operational competence to critical engagement. We introduce the concept of epistemic vulnerability to characterize a distinct risk where older adults (65+) trust AI outputs not due to cognitive deficits, but because the system's confident, fluent delivery mimics authoritative sources they have historically learned to trust. Grounding this argument in the socio-technical co-constitution model of ageing and technology, we conceptualize epistemic vulnerability as emerging from misalignments among older adults' life-worlds, design worlds, technological artefacts, and broader images of ageing. Rejecting protectionist restrictions, we propose a framework of Critical AI Literacy supported by Ethical Scaffolding, emphasizing empowerment through structural aids that help users distinguish linguistic fluency from factual accuracy. Furthermore, the risk profiles and the feasibility of scaffolding vary across the young-old (65-74), middle old (75-84) and the oldest-old (85+) subgroups. By outlining concrete strategies for adapting information-verification habits, this work provides a roadmap for ensuring older adults remain active, competent agents in an increasingly algorithmic society.