AI Health Coaches Are Coming Soon to a Device Near You

Ten years ago, the idea of tracking your footsteps or your heartbeat was weird. Those dedicated to the pursuit of quantified self knowledge proselytized in TED Talks, while journalists attended conferences and reported on the strange new trend. Today, over 40% of households in the U.S. own a wearable device, according to statistics service Statista. It is not uncommon to hear retirees comparing or boasting about their step count for the day. The quantified self is ascendant.  [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] Now, as artificial intelligence’s relentless advance continues, researchers and technologists are looking for ways to take the next step—to build AI health coaches that sift through health data and tell users how to stay fighting fit. The triumph of the quantified self There’s a lot of evidence to suggest that wearables do offer at least some benefits. A review of scientific studies from 2022 found that, across over 160,000 participants in all the studies included, people who were assigned to wear activity trackers took roughly 1,800 more steps each day, which translated to a weight loss of around two pounds.  Wearables change behavior in a number of ways—by prompting users to set goals, allowing them to monitor things they care about, by reminding them when they’re not on track to meet their goals—says Carol Maher, a professor of population and digital health at the University of South Australia and a...
Source: TIME: Health - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Uncategorized Artificial Intelligence Source Type: news