Complexity management as an ethical challenge for AI-based age tech

Assistive technologies for older adults (age tech) may support individuals in living a mostly independent life in their own home environment for as long as possible. Especially age tech based on artificial intelligence (AI)-applications may enable a personalization of health and care services and facilitate quality of life. These technologies collect and process large amounts of individual data generated in the daily life and home environment of older adults through various sensors, monitor technologies, and smart wearables. Due to their focus on individual data, these technologies may be tools for tailoring health and care services to the individual needs and benefits of older adults. However, AI-based age tech comes with ethical issues linked to complexity management, i.e. the set of technical means and strategies for dealing with complex or ambiguous data, e.g. user characteristics or behavioral data. Algorithmic standardization might thus conflict with the goal of personalization. In this paper, I identify the crucial ethics issues related to AI-based age tech.