ATLANTA — Artificial intelligence could play an increasingly important role in caring for older adults as the need for caregivers grows, according to the National Council on Aging.

Nicole Howell with the National Council on Aging says the organization found that AI is already being used in caregiving and expects its use to increase in the coming years.

“We’re all hearing about artificial intelligence and wondering how it might shape all of our lives, and it’s easy to assume that caregiving, a deeply human task, is going to be exempt from that, so as we started to do research we realized that wasn’t the case,” Howell said.

AI can be used for fall detection, medication management, health monitoring and care plans. It can also be used behind the scenes for staffing decisions, finance and human resources.

“Consumers will see it in a variety of ways, in some ways that are invisible to them, like if an employer employs the caregiver that they work with handling their back-end functions like finance or HR, but you’ll also start to see it in ways like remote monitoring,” Howell said.

A recent survey by Home Health Care News found about 90% of home health care agencies currently use AI or plan to use it in the near future.

Howell says the technology could also help as the need for caregivers increases.

“The caregiving landscape is changing. We need more caregivers for the next ten years to provide for individuals who are older adults or individuals with disabilities, we need to grow the workforce, and we also need to explore how AI technology can support that work,” Howell said.

AI can also be used to help address loneliness among older adults.

WSB Radio’s Sabrina Cupit contributed to this story.