More technology, more loneliness? When digital literacy is ignored

Portugal is today one of the most aged countries in Europe. We live longer, but increasingly alone. Thousands of people spend entire days without regular human contact, often without anyone noticing.

Loneliness is no longer just an emotional problem. It's now a recognized risk factor, associated with undetected falls, prolonged isolation and progressive deterioration of well-being. Yet the dominant response continues to be almost always the same: more technology.

The usual answer: another screen

Apps for monitoring, home sensors, smartwatches, digital platforms. Well-intentioned solutions, but built on a fragile assumption: that those who age will learn, use and maintain digital systems consistently over time. Reality shows otherwise.

Risk is not an event, it is a silence

When we talk about aging, the risk rarely arises in a dramatic moment. It's not when someone presses an emergency button. It's when no one calls. When a day passes without contact. When a simple routine breaks and the absence goes unnoticed.

And yet, we continue to design systems that only work if someone does something. Press a button. Open an app. Interact with a new device. Each of these actions seems minimal, but accumulated over time becomes the weak point of the system.

Designing for absence

Perhaps the problem isn't the lack of technology, but the way it's designed. In contexts of loneliness and aging, the most relevant data isn't the action, but its absence. The prolonged silence. The phone that isn't answered when it normally would be.

The most reliable technology isn't the most visible, but the one that disappears from the user's experience. The one that doesn't require learning. The one that works even when no one consciously interacts with it.

What MILAE chose to do

It's from this reflection that MILAE emerges: an AI assistant for elderly monitoring that works through automatic daily phone calls. MILAE calls every day, confirms presence and routine, and flags when something deviates from the usual, without requiring apps, internet or additional devices from the person who answers.

For the one who answers, it's just a call. For the one who monitors, it's the guarantee that absence doesn't go unnoticed.

In a rapidly aging country, continuing to respond to loneliness with technology that requires continuous learning is a choice. Choosing simple systems that guarantee presence is another.