A new study explored whether AI-generated text messages could encourage older adults to be more active.
Researchers asked adults over 40 to review dozens of motivational messages written by artificial intelligence.
Most participants rated the messages as appropriate and high quality, though reactions shifted when people knew AI created them.
Artificial intelligence is already helping people draft emails, answer questions, and plan trips. Now, researchers are exploring whether it could also act like a mini personal trainer—right from your phone.
A new study from researchers at the University of Michigan and Pennsylvania State University looked at whether AI-written text messages could encourage older adults to move more and sit less.
The idea is simple: short motivational reminders sent throughout the day could help people build healthier habits without needing constant one-on-one coaching. Researchers say this kind of technology could eventually help health programs reach larger groups of people in a more affordable and scalable way.
The study
The study included 630 adults aged 40 and older.
Participants were shown 80 different motivational text messages created by artificial intelligence. The messages focused on increasing physical activity and reducing sedentary behavior. Researchers asked participants to evaluate the texts for overall quality and whether any wording felt culturally insensitive or inappropriate.
The study also explored whether participants reacted differently when they knew the messages had been written by AI instead of humans. Researchers were especially interested in understanding how trust and perceptions of AI influenced people’s willingness to accept health-related guidance.
The results
Overall, the findings were encouraging. Most participants viewed the AI-written messages as appropriate and well written.
Researchers found that artificial intelligence was capable of producing motivational content that older adults generally accepted.
But attitudes toward AI still mattered. Participants’ reactions changed depending on how comfortable they felt with artificial intelligence and whether they were told the messages were AI-generated.
“Initially, I thought this was a little counterintuitive,” researcher Allyson Tabaczynski said in a news release. “If you have a more positive attitude toward AI, you might also just have more general knowledge of some of the biases or limitations that AI can have in its output or in its training data.”
The study suggests that transparency could play an important role in how people respond to AI-based health tools.
Researchers said the results represent an early step toward using AI to support behavior-change programs on a larger scale, particularly for promoting physical activity among aging adults.
“If someone is receiving a health intervention that uses AI, their perceptions of AI are going to impact how they’re evaluating or responding to that intervention,” Tabaczynski said. “So it’s something that researchers and interventionists have to take into account as they’re designing their interventions with this technology.”