Senior Citizens

Abstract

Two different pieces of pending federal legislation share the acronym GUARD Act, but they address technological risks at opposite ends of the age spectrum. The Guidelines for User Age-verification and Responsible Dialogue Act of 2026 (S. 3062) would seek to protect minors from potentially harmful interactions with artificial intelligence chatbots and companions through age verification, access restrictions, disclosures, and other safeguards. The separate Guarding Unprotected Aging Retirees from Deception Act (H.R. 2978/S. 2544) would strengthen law enforcement capabilities to investigate increasingly sophisticated financial fraud affecting older Americans, including schemes involving artificial intelligence and cryptocurrency. Neither proposal has yet been enacted into federal law. Examining the two measures together highlights both their potential benefits and their possible unintended consequences, including questions involving privacy, cybersecurity, parental authority, access to beneficial AI technologies, digital inclusion, and civil liberties. Their contrasting approaches also raise a broader question likely to become increasingly important as artificial intelligence permeates everyday life: How can society protect people who may be particularly vulnerable to emerging technologies without unnecessarily limiting their ability to benefit from those same technologies?

Introduction

Chappell, James. The Golden Years, How Americans Invented and Resisted Old Age. Basic Books, 2024 (publication date November 19, 2024).

James Chappell’s The Golden Years provides a compelling and incisive examination of the history of aging in America from the 19th century’s radical yet unrealized visions for reparative pensions to the contemporary decline of collective policy frameworks supporting older adults. Chappell’s narrative is richly detailed and deeply thought-provoking, offering both a historical chronicle and a critique of the evolving relationship between aging, public policy, and societal expectations.

Chappell shines a light on the early idealistic efforts to repair lives disrupted by war and slavery in the post-Civil War era. These movements, though ambitious, were thwarted by political deadlock and systemic inequalities. The author paints a vivid picture of how old-age support became a prominent issue, yet remained mired in compromises that excluded many, particularly African Americans. The 1935 Social Security Act—a cornerstone of the New Deal—marked a turning point, but its benefits were initially restricted to industrial workers, leaving agricultural and domestic laborers, disproportionately Black, on the sidelines.

Articles Tagged with Senior Citizens

Two GUARD ACTS: Protecting the Young and the Old in an Age of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Fraud

Abstract

Introduction