Older Japanese Women Prefer AI For Personal Advice

According to the Japan Institute for Promotion of Digital Economy and Community survey, reported by Kyodo News and other outlets, 47.8% of female respondents in their 60s and 70s said they would prefer to consult an artificial intelligence rather than a human about interpersonal relationship issues. The same age group reported a 37.3% preference for consulting a human. The online survey was carried out in mid-January and received valid responses from 1,449 people aged 18 to 79, per the published results. Across all respondents, 45.8% said they would choose humans for relationship advice, 36.5% chose AI, and 17.7% said they did not know or would not pick either option. Kyodo News and other outlets quoted Atsushi Nakagomi, an associate professor at Chiba University, saying, "AI makes people feel more comfortable about opening up, as they might feel free to seek advice without worrying about how their comments will be perceived."

Editorial analysis: The survey measures stated preference rather than observed behavior, which matters for design and evaluation. Stated-preference results can diverge from real-world usage once people interact with specific conversational agents or encounter privacy, accuracy, or moderation tradeoffs. For practitioners building conversational systems for older adults, the result suggests value in testing beyond general-population benchmarks, including usability, tone, and reassurance around privacy and trust. Industry-pattern observations: Prior research on human-AI interaction shows that perceived neutrality, anonymity, and nonjudgmental responses often increase willingness to disclose sensitive information, especially in contexts involving stigma or social evaluation.

Editorial analysis: While the headline finding is demographic and cultural, it intersects with ongoing product and research conversations about age-targeted UX and accessibility. For designers, the combination of higher AI preference among older women and a persistent overall preference for humans implies heterogenous user needs rather than a universal shift away from person-to-person advice. For policymakers and service designers in health, social care, and community support, the finding flags a population segment that may be receptive to AI-mediated outreach or information, but one where ethical and safety considerations, including accuracy and escalation to human care, are salient.

Editorial analysis: Observers should track follow-up studies that measure actual usage of conversational agents among older adults, longitudinal changes in preference, and segmentation by urban versus rural residency, digital literacy, and social isolation indicators. Practitioners should watch for research examining whether AI preference correlates with factors such as perceived loneliness, mobility limitations, or prior experience with digital assistants. Researchers and vendors publishing usability or deployment reports that include older demographics will provide the next test of whether stated preference translates into sustained adoption.