Technology Acceptance and Digital Equity in Later Life: Chinese Senior Immigrants’ Experiences of Learning AI in Canada

• In Event: Bridging the Digital Divide: Intergenerational Inequality, Technology Acceptance, and Educational Equity

Proposal

Artificial intelligence (AI) is increasingly shaping the everyday lives of people worldwide, from health communication and transportation to language translation and social connectivity (Weingott & Parkinson, 2024). While much research has explored AI adoption among younger, digitally fluent populations, far less is known about how older immigrants encounter, interpret, and learn to use AI technologies (Wong et al., 2025; Seo & Ammari, 2025; Tang KangJie et al., 2025). This paper examines the experiences of Chinese senior immigrants in Canada as they navigate AI in their daily lives. In this paper, we emphasize both individual perceptions and the structural conditions that enable or constrain equitable participation. By integrating the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) (Davis, 1989) with a digital equity framework (Robinson, et. al., 2020), the study explores how older immigrants weigh the perceived usefulness, ease of use, and trustworthiness of AI against barriers such as language, cultural dissonance, and age-related challenges.
Recent scholarship highlights how seniors engage with technology in diverse ways, including financial security, education, leadership, and intergenerational learning. Saha et al. (2025) demonstrate that while digital banking offers seniors convenience, it also exposes them to heightened risks of financial exploitation due to cognitive decline, limited familiarity with online fraud, and difficulties with complex interfaces. Bodaubekov et al. (2025) investigate technology in education and find that AI-based feedback tools such as Write & Improve are as effective as teacher feedback in improving senior learners’ writing skills. Zhu and Zhang (2025) examine online intergenerational learning among Chinese senior immigrants in Canada. While previous studies illustrate the complex interactions between seniors and technologies across financial, educational, professional, and community contexts, there are not enough studies focusing on ongoing challenges related to equity, trust, and accessibility of using and learning AI among senior immigrants.
Drawing on qualitative interviews with 20 Chinese seniors in Toronto and Vancouver, Canada, the study identifies how senior immigrants encounter AI-enabled systems, such as using ChatGPT, voice assistants, AI-powered health apps, mobile health applications, translation tools, and ride-hailing platforms. This paper explores three research questions. First, how do Chinese senior immigrants in Canada perceive the usefulness, ease of use, and trustworthiness of AI technologies in their everyday lives? Second, what structural and cultural barriers (e.g., language, socioeconomic status, ageism) shape Chinese seniors’ opportunities for equitable participation in AI learning and adoption? Finally, in what ways do community-based programs mediate Chinese seniors’ learning of AI, and how do these contexts influence their decisions to adopt or reject AI tools?
Theoretically, this study uses the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and digital equity framework to understand the senior immigrants’ experience. The Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), originally developed by Davis (1989), is one of the most widely used frameworks for explaining technology adoption. In this framework, TAM posits that two factors including perceived usefulness (the degree to which an individual believes that using a particular system will enhance performance) and perceived ease of use (the degree to which one believes using the system will be free of effort), both of which are central in shaping technology acceptance and behavioral intention to use (Davis, 1989; Venkatesh & Davis, 2000). Over time, TAM has been expanded to incorporate other variables such as trust, social influence, and cultural context (Venkatesh, Morris, Davis, & Davis, 2003), making it a flexible tool for examining how diverse populations respond to new technologies.
Digital equity refers to a condition in which all individuals and communities have the capacity to access, use, and benefit from digital technologies in meaningful ways. It extends beyond device and internet access to include affordability, digital literacy, culturally relevant content, and inclusive design (Robinson et al., 2020). The digital equity framework builds on this concept by analyzing the structural, social, and cultural factors that shape participation in the digital world.
This study finds three distinct patterns of AI engagement among Chinese senior immigrants in Canada. The first, instrumental adoption, occurs when seniors selectively use AI tools to meet immediate and practical needs, most often for translation, transportation, or health management. In these cases, perceived usefulness refers to usability challenges, as the immediate benefits of AI are clear and directly relevant to daily life. The second, hesitant engagement, describes participants who acknowledge the potential value of AI but face significant barriers related to usability or trust. These individuals frequently rely on younger family members, peers, or intergenerational supports to mediate their learning, which highlights how perceptions of ease of use are shaped by social networks. The third, community-mediated learning, emphasizes the role of immigrant associations, religious organizations, and senior centers as collective spaces where seniors could experiment with AI technologies, share knowledge, and build cultural trust. This form of engagement reframes adoption not as an individual decision but as a socially embedded process. The finding suggests that while the TAM model provides valuable insight into perceptions of usefulness and usability, it could be expanded to account for cultural trust, community mediation, and structural inequities that shape older immigrants’ opportunities to engage with AI in a transcultural and international context.
By situating Chinese senior immigrants’ AI learning within broader debates on technology adoption, aging, and migration, the paper contributes to three scholarly and practical conversations. First, it extends TAM research by highlighting the importance of cultural trust and community mediation in older immigrant populations. Second, it advances digital equity discourse by demonstrating that equitable AI participation requires not only access to devices and connectivity but also culturally responsive education and policy interventions. Third, it contributes to adult education and lifelong learning scholarship by positioning AI adoption as a form of continuous learning that shapes identity, agency, and social belonging in later life.
The paper concludes by proposing a participatory model of AI literacy for immigrant seniors that combines TAM’s focus on individual perceptions with community-driven approaches to digital equity. This model calls for partnerships among policymakers, educators, technology designers, and immigrant-serving organizations to create inclusive learning environments where older immigrants could explore, question, and adapt AI tools on their own terms.

Authors

• Qiuhan Ji

• Bingbing Li

• Yidan Zhu