Set the Bar High ?? Mind the Gap.

AI + AgeTech: Pioneering the Future of Aging and Dementia Care

The a2 National Symposium was a prodigious gathering of key stakeholders and venture scientists, at various stages of the translation journey, exploring the opportunities and challenges across design, testing, funding, and commercial scaling of AI powered research to create breakthrough solutions for healthy aging.

It served to highlight that the bridge from theoretical potential to tangible impact can only be forged through collaborative efforts and determined perseverance, grounded in a deeper understanding of the evolving needs of our aging population and the capability to deploy solutions on a large scale in the real-world.

Mindfully navigating the various gaps will be essential to harness the power of AI and help foster a desired future where aging is not just supported, but celebrated.

Highlights:

• Pioneering Projects: Over 30 pilot projects were showcased, from predictive analytics and decision support assistants to digital twins and remote health monitoring, illustrating the diverse array of AI/ML powered applications to improve the quality of life for the older population, their caregivers and those with dementia.

• Visionary Voices: We were privileged to hear from two exceptional role models, Joel Dudley and Suchi Saria . Both Joel and Suchi are pioneering researchers, startup founders and investors with deep, decade+ experience in AI and healthcare and shared particularly germane knowledge, guidance and insights. By sharing personal stories and startup examples, they not only espoused the transformative potential of AI but also set the bar very high.

• Challenges in Translation: A recurring theme was the complexity of transitioning research into scalable solutions and overcoming pitfalls on the path from concept to market. Suchi Saria warned, "never underestimate the translation gap" emphasizing the importance of timing and rigorously researched ideas that need then to be blended with the right complementary team to ensure real-world impact.

Key Insights:

• Overcoming Ageism: Amanda Lazar shared insights into how ageism and stereotypical thinking can impair well intentioned user-centric design and co-creation, also spotlighting the lack of adequate data from older adults to train AI models and inherent age-related bias in many data sets and algorithms.
• Lived Experiences: The powerful narratives from the Lived Experience Panel added a profound dimension to the symposium. The stories of Dee, Susan, Lily and Marie brought home the importance of empathy and understanding in designing technologies that fully resonate with the needs and realities of aging individuals and their families.
• Seed Funding & Beyond: Todd Haim presented how the NIA, in its mission to extend the healthy, active years of life, plays a vital role with R&D grants providing ~$150 million annually via its SBIR and STTR programs. Accessing this non-dilutive capital provides a leveraged accelerant for technology development, data acquisition, product validation etc. It should also be a timely prompt for ambitious, forward-thinking venture scientists to determine how to maintain momentum and surmount the valley of death especially in light of today's challenging venture capital landscape.

• Policy Impact: Reuben Ng 's analysis of Singapore's rapidly aging society and the Smart Nation Vision offered a glimpse into how policy decisions, notably its Pioneer Aging Policy, can shape the social narrative in surprising ways.
• Ethical Considerations: The generational challenge of Dementia was a recurring theme described by Jason Karlawish as disorders of consciousness affecting the vectors of experience and agency. His panel with Justin Clapp, Ipsit Vahia, MD, Partha Bhattacharyya discussed using technology to measure lucidity and consciousness and the delicate balance between innovation and ethical responsibility to ensure all advancements respect the dignity and agency of those they aim to serve.
• Go-To-Market: "Very, very, very... hard" and "tortuous", were used to describe the go-to-market and scaling challenges in AI and AgeTech healthcare irrespective of the business model chosen (B2C, B2B, B2C2B etc). Andrew Toy closed the conference sharing Clover Health 's strategy to reach sustainable profitability solely focused on Medicare. Its Clover Assistant brings the power of AI and data insights to enable any physician deliver more consistent, higher quality care and offer its members better outcomes with a lower-cost insurance product.

Why It Matters:

The symposium was a timely checkpoint in the eagerly anticipated super evolution of AI applied to AgeTech and a moment to consider Antonia M. Villarruel, PhD, RN, FAAN four H's: Hype, Hope, Harmony, Humility... contrasting the strides already made with the significant hurdles that remain.

As technology advances gradually then suddenly, the event highlighted the necessity for bold interdisciplinary approaches that combine deeply researched technology, enlightened policy, and a more intimate human understanding to craft solutions that are not only innovative but also inclusive, ethically sound and engineered from the outset for truly scalable impact.

Resources:

• 4th Annual a2 Pilot Awards application: https://www.a2collective.ai/pilotawards
• NIA Small Business Funding Opportunities: https://www.nia.nih.gov/sites/default/files/2023-09/NIA_Small_Business_Overview_2023.pdf

Stephen Liu Winn Hong George Demiris Partha Bhattacharyya Rui Zhang Deepak Ganesan Katherine Baird Jun Jeon, MD Matthew Nelson Michele Washko Ken Honeycutt Hon Pak Kishore Kuchibhotla Oded Nov Ross Koppel, PhD, FACMI Peter Abadir Luc Sirois Pierre Fitzgibbon Christian Dubé Mila - Institut québécois d'intelligence artificielle Brain Canada The Neuro (Montreal Neurological Institute-Hospital) AGE-WELL envisAGE Ontario Brain Institute Centre for Aging + Brain Health Innovation AgeTech Collaborative? from AARP Milken Institute Future of Aging BrainMind The Penn AI and Tech Collaboratory for Healthy Aging Johns Hopkins Human Aging Project MassAITC a2 Collective | a2PilotAwards.ai National Institute on Aging (NIA)

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