The CLEAR-AGE: Empowering Older Adults to Navigate AI-Driven Disinformation is a Nordplus Adult collaboration and development project addressing the growing impact of artificial intelligence on today’s information environment and its consequences for older adult learners.

The aim of the CLEAR-AGE project is to strengthen critical information resilience among older adults in AI-driven information environments through non-formal adult learning in care and social service settings.

The project’s main objective is to strengthen older adults’ digital, media and critical thinking competences, with a specific focus on recognising AI-generated disinformation and manipulative narratives. At the organisational level, the project aims to enhance the capacity of
adult education providers to address AI-related challenges through inclusive, practice-oriented. Key activities include the co-creation of learning modules on AI, disinformation and media logic for older adult learners; pilot trainings and workshops in partner countries; mobility and
peer learning for adult educators and NGO staff; and the development of case-based learning scenarios grounded in real information crises. Community dialogues will further support collective information resilience and civic participation.

Expected results include open-access, practical learning resources for older adults, improved learner confidence and critical information skills, and strengthened organisational competences in adult education. The project will foster sustainable Nordic–Baltic cooperation among adult
education and civil society organisations, contributing to long-term democratic resilience and lifelong learning.

At participant level, the project aims to strengthen older adults’ digital, media and critical thinking competences, enabling them to recognise AI-generated disinformation, misleading narratives and manipulative content, and to engage with digital media in a more confident and informed
way in everyday life. At organisational level, the project seeks to strengthen the capacity of senior care institutions, social service providers and NGOs to address AI-related information risks by developing and piloting practical, age-appropriate learning methods that can be integrated into everyday support and care practices. At sectoral and regional level, the project aims to strengthen Nordic–Baltic cooperation, support
the exchange of practice-based knowledge and contribute to more informed and resilient communities by improving responses to AI-driven disinformation affecting older adults.

Participating organisations in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania work closely with senior care homes and community-based learning environments and share a common need for practical, age-appropriate methods to address these emerging challenges. Adult educators and
care staff report a lack of accessible tools to explain AI-related risks in an empowering and understandable way. By pooling Nordic–Baltic expertise, the project responds to these identified needs by developing and testing inclusive, non-formal learning approaches that support older adults’ confidence, critical thinking and information resilience in AI-driven digital environments. Nordic/Baltic added value The Nordic–Baltic context provides clear added value for addressing AI-driven disinformation affecting older adults. While Nordic and Baltic countries are among the most digitally advanced in Europe, available data from Eurostat and DESI consistently show a strong age-related digital divide: older adults remain the group with the lowest levels of digital confidence and critical media skills, despite high overall digitalisation. This creates a shared regional challenge that cannot be effectively addressed through isolated national initiative.

Background
The rapid development of artificial intelligence is reshaping today’s information environment, enabling the widespread use of generative content, deepfakes and algorithmic manipulation. These developments pose particular risks for older adults, especially those living in residential
care settings, who often have limited access to tailored digital learning opportunities and face higher exposure to disinformation. 

Generative AI, deepfakes and algorithmic content distribution increasingly shape how information is created and consumed, while older adults often face higher risks due to limited access to tailored digital learning opportunities and lower confidence in digital media. The project adopts a non-stigmatizing, empowerment-based approach, positioning older adults as active learners and contributors to resilient, informed communities.
The CLEAR-AGE project directly builds on the experience and evidence gathered by the Lithuanian College of Democracy through the national project “Overcoming Digital Barriers Together” (2024–2025), which involved approximately 200 older adult participants in non-formal
learning activities. Follow-up evaluation and research from this initiative clearly indicated that while basic digital skills can be strengthened, older adults remain highly vulnerable to AI-driven disinformation, emotional manipulation and misleading online narratives.

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