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Team 18

Social isolation is a prevalent issue for many older adults in today’s society. When social isolation is persistent, this can result in distressing and sustained feelings of loneliness. According to the Joint Research Centre (2022), one in three seniors in Europe experience loneliness. These feelings can range from mild to intense, with more than one sixth of seniors in Germany reporting severe loneliness rates (Hajek et al., 2023). In turn, a lack of social interaction affects elderly’s physical health and mental wellbeing in several ways, from being a risk factor for dementia to cognitive decline (Livingston et al., 2020; James et al., 2011). Another problem for many older adults is that they experience barriers to adopt technological applications (Lee, 2022; Czaja & Lee, 2006).  Often times, digital tools provide valuable solutions to improve the health and daily lives of seniors (Marston and Musselwhite, 2021; Wang, 2024), but elderly people are not well-equipped to independently engage with such tools. 

Our team has developed Social Seniors, a GenAI-enabled application that promotes social engagement in order to address the challenges of social isolation and loneliness among elderly. The platform aims to build a scalable and inclusive community that supports meaningful social connections. With the help of Generative AI, Social Seniors enables users to explore activities and connect and communicate with companions, through voice interaction, adaptive matching, and personalized activity recommendations. In addition, a built-in schedule keeps track of all your planned activities, and ensures you receive timely reminders. Generative AI allow users to interactively engage with the platform as it enhances accessibility and avoids the frustration of complex interfaces that many elderly users face (Czaja & Lee, 2006). Furthermore, the strength of Social Seniors lies in its collaborative approach. The platform serves as a bridge between digital technology and the real world by collaborating with local businesses, community centers, and municipalities. Through these partnerships, Social Seniors is able to maintain its credibility and relevance to the preferences of senior users. 

Based on the problem statement and business impacts of Social Seniors, the overall impact of Social Seniors shows that the integration of GenAI has gone beyond just the operational efficiency, it also delivers meaningful social and individual benefits. Key features like personalized recommendations and adaptive matching would encourage engagement, while partnerships with local businesses would translate digital connections into real-life social participation. However, integrating GenAI also leads to various challenges, such as building and maintaining user trust, ensuring transparency in suggestions delivered by AI, protecting personal data, and addressing the different levels of digital literacy among seniors. To address these, Social Seniors must ensure GDPR compliance, transparency in AI suggestions and recommendations, and active community monitoring to maintain a safer environment.  

Overall, the platform demonstrates how GenAI can serve as an initiator for social empowerment, it serves as a bridge helping to cross the digital divide, reducing loneliness, and setting up a new benchmark for inclusive, technology-driven wellbeing solutions for elderly users.

References

Czaja, S. J., & Lee, C. C. (2006). The impact of aging on access to technology. Universal Access in

the Information Society, 5(4), 341–349. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10209-006-0060-x

Hajek, A., Zwar, L., Gyasi, R. M., Kretzler, B., & König, H. (2023). Prevalence and determinants of

loneliness among the oldest old living in institutionalized settings. Zeitschrift Für Gerontologie Und Geriatrie, 57(3), 214–219. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00391-023-02196-x

James, B. D., Wilson, R. S., Barnes, L. L., & Bennett, D. A. (2011). Late-Life Social Activity and

Cognitive Decline in Old Age. Journal Of The International Neuropsychological Society, 17(6), 998–1005. https://doi.org/10.1017/s1355617711000531

Joint Research Centre. (2022). Loneliness prevalence in the EU. The Joint Research Centre: EU

Science Hub. https://joint-research-centre.ec.europa.eu/projects-and-activities/survey-methods-and-analysis-centre/loneliness/loneliness-prevalence-eu_en

Lee, C. (2022). Technology and aging: the jigsaw puzzle of design, development and distribution.

Nature Aging, 2(12), 1077–1079. https://doi.org/10.1038/s43587-022-00325-6

Livingston, G., Huntley, J., Sommerlad, A., et al (2020). Dementia prevention, intervention, and care: 

2020 report of the lancet commission. The Lancet., 396 (10248) (2020), pp. 413-446, https://doi.org/10.1016/s0140-6736(20)30367-6

Marston, H. R., & Musselwhite, C. B. A. (2021). Improving Older People’s Lives Through Digital

Technology and Practices. Gerontology And Geriatric Medicine, 7. https://doi.org/10.1177/23337214211036255

Wang, C. (2024). Artificial Intelligence Helps the Elderly to Integrate into the Internet Age. Advances

in Intelligent Systems Research/Advances in Intelligent Systems Research, 533–541. https://doi.org/10.2991/978-94-6463-512-6_56

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Staying active and healthy has never been this easy.

We all know about the power of AI these days, especially Generative AI. ChatGPT is currently the most widely used AI tool (Duarte, 2025), so it’s safe to say it is having a big impact on how we live. Personally, I use ChatGPT for many different things, from helping me find references for my papers to planning trips or asking general daily questions.  

In my free time I find it important to live an active and healthy life. I love to cook and experiment with new recipes, and to stay fit I often go to the gym or head outside for a hike. However, I used to struggle with finding ways to eat healthy, diverse, and tasty meals that were also easy to make. I also found it difficult to create the perfect gym routine. I never liked using personal trainers, because I prefer to work independently and without any additional costs.

That’s when I discovered that ChatGPT could solve most of my health-related problems. I immediately went to the chat and started typing. I never knew that being active and healthy could be this easy and even fun!

I began by asking ChatGPT to design the perfect gym schedule that would fit my lifestyle perfectly. I told it how much free time I had for exercising, what kind of workouts I liked, and what my fitness goal were. The result was great, I’ve never seen a schedule so detailed, well-structured, and realistic like that. This plan actually made sense and I was directly really existed to try it out. I’ve been using it ever since, and I’m very satisfied with the results. Whenever I want to change something, I just tell ChatGPT what I’d like to adjust, and it instantly updates the plan to match my current preferences. The way that ChatGPT explains why certain exercises are good, specifically for me, makes me trust the schedule even more.

Since ChatGPT already knows how active I am and my fitness goals, I also started using it to find new meal ideas. I added some additional personal information about my weight, food preferences, and dietary goals. In return, ChatGPT came up with interesting and creative meals, some of which I’d never tried before. As someone who enjoys experimenting in the kitchen, I really like this. The recipes are detailed, healthy, and just how I like it. In addition, it could even make a grocery shopping list out of the chosen recipes!

Altogether, ChatGPT helps me stay disciplined, active, and healthy. I would recommend everyone who is interested in living a more balanced lifestyle to give it a try. It might just become your new favorite health buddy too.

References:

Duarte, F. (2025, 2 oktober). Number of ChatGPT Users (October 2025). Exploding Topics.

https://explodingtopics.com/blog/chatgpt-users

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The Metaverse is often imagined as a place for gaming and social interaction¹, but it also holds exiting possibilities for education. The coronavirus pandemic has tremendously impacted education worldwide, opening the door for Metaverse to create an entirely new educational ecosystem¹. At the same time, with students’ attention span shrinking and they struggle to stay engaged, immersive technologies like VR and AR could reshape how we learn. Instead of passively listening to lectures, students could actively experience knowledge by exploring a 3D model of the human body as a biology student, or a flight attendant could be practicing with a simulation of an airplane. Stanford for example, have been providing a ‘Virtual People’ class where you learn in the Metaverse, using VR technology⁴. 

There is already evidence that immersive learning can be effective. According to PwC’s VR Training Study², employees trained in VR learned up to 4 times faster than in a classroom, scored 44% higher on their assessment after completing the VR module, and felt 275% more confident applying their skills. This shows that VR and the Metaverse can not only make training faster, but also more impactful. Even all the participants preferred having a VR course in their learning curriculum².

Another potential benefit is accessibility. Virtual classrooms can reduce physical barriers for people with disabilities, those living far away, or students who feel socially anxious in traditional settings.

Still, there are limitations. Equipment like VR headsets and powerful devices are very expensive, raising concerns about affordability and the risk of widening the digital divide³. Besides, while the Metaverse technology is immersive, it may never fully replace the human connection and empathy that comes with face-to-face education. 

In my view, the Metaverse should not be seen as a replacement for traditional education, but rather as a powerful complement. The real question is not whether we can learn in the Metaverse, but whether we can do without losing the human elements that make education meaningful. 

References:

¹ Onu, P., Pradhan, A. & Mbohwa, C. Potential to use metaverse for future teaching and learning. Educ Inf Technol 29, 8893–8924 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10639-023-12167-9

² PricewaterhouseCoopers. (2020). What does virtual reality and the metaverse mean for training? PwC. https://www.pwc.com/us/en/tech-effect/emerging-tech/virtual-reality-study.html

³ Van Dijk, J. (2020). The digital divide. John Wiley & Sons.

⁴ Stanford ‘Virtual People’ class in the Metaverse.