"A Glimpse, Not a Gaze": Using Generative AI to Balance Privacy and Awareness in Inter-generational Caregiving
2026-06-03 • Human-Computer Interaction
Human-Computer Interaction
AI summaryⓘ
The authors study how adult children who care for their aging parents can stay informed without invading their parents' privacy. They explore using AI to create simple, privacy-friendly pictures that summarize daily activities instead of sharing full video footage. The study involves older adults and their children reporting how comfortable they feel sharing or receiving these AI-generated images. The researchers aim to understand the different privacy needs between generations and suggest ways to design better AI caregiving tools that respect privacy and dignity.
aging in placeinformal caregiversprivacygenerative AIvisual summariesExperience Sampling Methodinter-generationalsmartphone promptsboundary-settingAI-mediated caregiving
Authors
Zixi Christina Li, Keiko Katsuragawa, James R. Wallace
Abstract
As older adults increasingly prefer to age in place, their adult children often assume the role of informal caregivers. This dynamic creates a distinct tension between the adult child's need for awareness and the older adult's fundamental right to privacy. Traditional monitoring technologies, such as raw video feeds, often compromise the older adult's autonomy. To address this challenge, this study explores the use of generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) to create abstract, privacy-preserving ``visual summaries'' of daily activities. We design a 10-day Experience Sampling Method (ESM) study with dyads consisting of older adults and their adult children. Through daily smartphone prompts, participants report their current context and evaluate pre-generated AI sketches, indicating their willingness to share or receive these images. Follow-up interviews will further investigate participants' boundary-setting behaviours. This research aims to quantify the privacy mismatch between generations and provide actionable design guidelines for applying visual abstraction in AI-mediated caregiving tools, ultimately supporting inter-generational connection while protecting user dignity.