We're raising alarms about AI companions and what they're doing to teenagers. But when the person holding the device is elderly or living with cognitive decline, that concern seems to quietly disappear. As family caregivers, we deserve to ask the same hard questions about consent, data privacy, and the difference between real connection and simulated connection — regardless of who the technology is being marketed to. This post is not about fear. It's about being a thoughtful, informed consumer of care technology, and demanding that the companies building these products be ready to have that conversation too.

Before we can fix the caregiving crisis, we have to ask whether we've lost the most important thing: the willingness to come close. This is a call to caregivers and care tech founders alike to prioritize human presence over optimization.