My moonshot
Nobody grows old alone.
A friendly AI that rings older people for a proper chat, and real people who step in when something seems off. The goal is simple: more years living at home, and fewer of them lonely.
Why this matters to me
A lot of older people live on their own, or with a partner who is slowing down too. Their families are often interstate, or flat out. Loneliness creeps in quietly. And the small things, like not eating properly, a fall that "wasn't anything", a bit more confusion than last month, get missed until they become big things.
My own parents live on the other side of the country. I know what it's like to ring and hear "oh, we're fine" and wonder if that's the whole story.
How it works
They say yes
A family gets in touch, but nobody is signed up behind their back. I sit down with the older person, over a cuppa or on the phone, and they decide for themselves. They can stop any time.
We get to know them
A one-page "About Me": the name they like to be called, the best times to ring, anything that makes calls harder, the topics they love and the ones to steer clear of.
Rose rings
A few times a week, on their normal phone. No app, no gadgets, no passwords. A proper, unhurried chat about their life, how they're going, and what's coming up.
The family hears
A short update each week, so a son in Perth or a daughter in Melbourne knows how Mum is really going, not just how she says she is.
The AI listens. People decide.
The computer never makes decisions about anyone's care. When something doesn't sound right, it hands over to a person.
The family gets the weekly update. That's it.
Two missed calls in a row, sounding unwell or confused, a mention of a fall or not eating. A real person rings the family the same day. The family decides what to do.
If they say they're hurt during a call, they're told to hang up and ring triple zero, and a person is alerted straight away to ring the family.
This is not an emergency alarm service. Anyone with a personal alarm pendant should keep it.
It's not really about the AI
Think of a monitored security alarm. The box on the wall is cheap. What people value is knowing that when it goes off at 2am, someone answers.
AI that can hold a friendly conversation is getting better and cheaper every month. The hard part, and the part that matters, is everything around it: earning an older person's trust, getting the small details right, and having a real person who picks up the phone when it counts.
In the first calls with my own parents, every problem we fixed was a human one, not a technical one. A shared landline. A voice that felt right. Slowing down so nobody had to say "pardon?". Making absolutely sure it could never be mistaken for a scam call.
Where it's at
Now: daily calls with my own parents, which began as a way to record their life stories for the family. It turns out a good chat about the horses on the farm, or the pipe band, is also the best way to hear how someone is really going.
Next:a small, free three-month trial with around ten people through my local Men's Shed in Perth, to learn what works, what doesn't, and whether it genuinely helps people feel less alone.
The big goal: older Australians staying in their own homes, independent and connected, for years longer than they otherwise would. Then, if it works here, everywhere.
Want to be part of it?
If you have an older parent who might enjoy a chat, run a community group, or work in aged care and want to compare notes, I'd love to hear from you.