The rights of older people and the role of AI

Bill Johnston discusses the potential for a UN Convention on Older People, what those rights might mean in an age of AI and how both issues present a challenge for Scotland to solve.

Introduction.

In my recent article on the Programme for Government (PfG) I critiqued the absence of any mention of older people and questioned the lack of priority shown by ScotGov since Humza Yousaf dropped the Minister for Older People from his cabinet. John Swinney, the current FM, has come under pressure about the future of the triple lock on pensions linked to social care, and demands from Age Scotland to reinstate the Minister. So the many issues raised by Scotland’s ageing population aren’t going away any time soon and should become a priority for this parliament to address.

Since my article a conference on the new United Nation’s Convention on Older People has provided a significant focus. The conference was held by the University of Oxford Institute for Ethics in AI and explored the potential for AI to support development of the UN Convention. The background is that the UN Human Rights Council agreed in April 2025 to begin drafting a new legally binding instrument on the human rights of older persons. This is a landmark development in the fight against ageism and for better conditions for ageing populations, which Scotland can’t afford to ignore.

The Oxford conference also provided an opportunity to discuss the use of AI to support drafting the new Convention by collecting the voices of older people around the world. This raised wider issues about the uses and risks of AI in society given the rapid adoption of the technology, the boundless enthusiasm of politicians for progress and the growing alarms over out of control AI.

The UN Convention: Current status, next steps - Scotland’s Voice.

Whilst the UK, like many jurisdictions, has legislation relating to older people (age is a protected characteristic in the 2010 Equalities Act) existing international human rights treaties do not comprehensively address age-based discrimination. This is in contrast to the Conventions on children, refugees etc. A new legally binding convention on older people could therefore be expected to outlaw ageism, address health and social care provisions and guarantee rights to social and political participation. These demographic issues have been explored in the Scottish context in our 2021 book, which offers a comprehensive guide for ScotGov policy formation, parliamentary action and strategies for the independence movement.

Progress on the UN Convention is in an interregnum period as action moves from discussions to the negotiation of a new legally binding document between UN member states. This has consequences for government responsibilities and diplomatic activity. Clearly Westminster will assume responsibility for UK involvement, which will in turn cause some reshuffling of ministerial responsibility over the coming months.

Given ScotGov’s poor record on older people’s rights and issues over the last parliament, and the absence of attention in the current PfG, we cannot afford to ignore the opportunity of the UN initiative to focus attention and energize policy making. As Westminster will be leading the negotiations ScotGov needs to demand a place at the table or it won’t get one!

“It is essential to reject an ageist deficit model of older people as weak, vulnerable and lacking digital capacity in the face of AI.”

AI and the UN Convention.

AI offers a means of engaging older people with the drafting of the Convention by supporting research into older people’s views and perceptions. However there is also scope to focus on AI as an issue for older people’s lives generally. It is clear that the UK government is heavily committed to AI as a focus of growth and national prestige, so it is important that the rights of citizens are not forgotten in the rush towards ‘world leading’ AI.

An international research project on Human Rights of Older People (HROP) using AI support to access older people’s views is at the pilot stage. The aim is to include older people’s voices to shape the development of the UN Convention using AI tools to support international and intercultural dialogue. The pilot involves the UK, India, Brazil and Kenya. Whilst issues of methodology, ethics and practical conduct of the research were discussed in Oxford, the more general principles around AI’s social significance were also raised.

Avoiding harm to older people is an obvious objective – scams and misinformation for example. However it is essential to reject an ageist deficit model of older people as weak, vulnerable and lacking digital capacity in the face of AI. That would simply demote older people in favour of more influential actors. Consequently involving older people in designing AI systems from the outset is a key objective as is learning from their insights and experience. This should include marginalized groups within the older population. Critiquing models of AI implementation is equally important – will it be an extractive business model or a public good model? These are extensive matters of political economy and human rights for governments and their citizens to deliberate alongside their national demographic trends.

Conclusion: Key questions for Citizens and their MSPs.

Given the need to enhance representation of older people’s rights and engage with a very AI-minded Westminster government, Scotland needs to be proactive on negotiation of the UN Convention. To that end citizen’s and their MSPs need early answers to some basic questions:

• What is ScotGov doing to get involved with the UN Convention?

• Who will represent Scottish interests with Westminster?

• Where will the Convention ’fit’ in ScotGov responsibilities, priorities, funding and practice?

• How will Scottish citizens have a say?

Demographic ageing and older people’s rights must be part of the policy synthesis for ScotGov, alongside other essential economic and social strategies. Ideally as part of a wider participative engagement through a Citizen’s Assembly on Scotland’s ageing population. Similarly AI must be adopted for the public good and not left to the interests of big tech companies, corporate lobbyists and careerist politicians.