OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Thrive Global (and Huffington Post) founder Arianna Huffington have announced the launch of Thrive AI Health, a startup aimed at developing an AI-powered health coach, according to a news release. The venture seeks to address the growing crisis of chronic diseases by using artificial intelligence to provide personalized guidance.
“AI could go well beyond efficiency and optimization to something much more fundamental: improving both our health spans and our life spans,” Altman and Huffington wrote in an op-ed published in Time.
Thrive AI Health plans to develop an app that uses “hyper-personalization” to improve behavioral health outcomes through prevention and optimization of disease treatment. “Every aspect of our health is deeply influenced by the five foundational daily behaviors of sleep, food, movement, stress management, and social connection,” the founders emphasized. “AI, by using the power of hyper-personalization, can significantly improve these behaviors.”
The AI health coach will be trained on users’ biometric data, lab results and personal preferences to offer tailored recommendations across these five key areas. For example, it might remind a user to go to bed early before a morning flight or to swap their third afternoon soda with water and lemon, demonstrating its ability to integrate health and calendar data seamlessly.
Chronic diseases, including cardiovascular, depression and diabetes, affect approximately 129 million Americans and account for 90% of the nation’s $4.1 trillion health care spending, according to the release. Altman and Huffington say they believe artificial intelligence can play a crucial role in addressing this challenge.
“AI-driven diagnostics have already reduced error rates and improved patient outcomes. Now, by focusing AI on healthy behavior promotion and taking advantage of its ability to process potentially several billion data points, we put in our hands a powerful tool for positive change, ensuring technology works for our well-being rather than against it,” they stated in Time.
The founders concluded, “This collective effort, with robust privacy and security safeguards, can transform health care, benefiting millions of people around the world.”
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