By Steve Moran

I manage a stock portfolio for a family member that includes many technology stocks, particularly those focused on AI.

Last Monday, I took the day off to go whale watching in Monterey Bay. Unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately), I still had internet access on my phone, allowing me to watch values plunge in real time. It was a rough day, with massive amounts of value wiped out when NVIDIA dropped by around $25 per share, and other technology stocks in the portfolio saw similar losses.

Good News

It’s important to note that last week, a consortium of investors committed to investing an astonishing $500 billion into AI. The DeepSeek announcement and the resulting stock price drop did nothing to change those investors’ minds.

This level of interest and investment indicates that the smartest, most savvy technologists and technology business leaders are convinced that AI is already changing the world and will continue to do so in unprecedented ways. It also means AI will transform senior living in remarkable and innovative ways.

Let’s Take a Look

Here’s how AI is already changing the world of senior living:

  • It’s making company data more accessible to every team member, eliminating time-consuming phone calls to leaders asking, “What’s our policy on … ?” — important queries that previously took hours to answer or were missed altogether.
  • AI can review vendor contracts in minutes and identify opportunities to improve relationships.
  • It can detect subtle changes in resident conditions, reducing falls, improving care, and increasing lengths of stay.
  • It helps activity leaders build calendars and movie schedules in moments rather than hours.
  • It reduces new resident admission time from hours to minutes.
  • It optimizes staffing schedules efficiently.

I could easily extend this list to include 100 items.

Risks

Are there risks? The simple answer is yes. However, what often gets overlooked is that not adopting AI carries its own set of risks. We know:

  • AI sometimes gets answers wrong — very wrong. That’s why human supervision is essential.
  • There are potential (and perhaps real) privacy concerns.
  • Technology evolves rapidly, meaning most AI solutions adopted by senior living operators will need updates or replacement.
  • AI still has limitations. It struggles with creating images containing text and generates technically perfect but generic articles and social media content.

AI is here to stay. It will improve operational efficiency, eliminate routine tasks, enhance residents’ lives, make team members’ jobs easier, and help control costs and rates.