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AI Health Coaches Will Probably Arrive on a Device

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AI Health Coaches Will Probably Arrive on a Device

It was strange to think about tracking your heartbeat or footprints a decade ago. Journalists covered the odd new trend at conferences, and those committed to the quest of quantified self-knowledge preached in TED Talks. A wearable device is now owned by over 40% of American households, according to statistics provided by Statista. Retirees frequently compare or brag about how many steps they took each day. The measurable self is in the ascendant.

As artificial intelligence continues to grow at an exponential rate, scientists and technologists are now searching for ways to go even farther. They want to create AI health coaches that can analyze health data and provide advice to users on maintaining optimal fitness.

The success of the measurable self

Numerous pieces of evidence point to the fact that wearables do, at minimum, provide some advantages. A 2022 review of scientific studies discovered that individuals assigned to wear activity trackers lost two pounds on average (about 1,800 extra steps per day) among over 160,000 participants in all the included studies.

According to Carol Maher, a population and digital health professor at the University of South Australia and a co-author of the review, wearables alter behavior in a variety of ways, including encouraging users to set goals, enabling them to monitor things that matter to them, and alerting them when they’re not on track to satisfy their objectives.

But according to Andrew Beam, an assistant professor studying medical artificial intelligence at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health’s Department of Epidemiology, these effects frequently wear off over time.

AI is needed to accurately detect the measures that matter to us from signal inputs, such as counting steps from an accelerometer worn on the wrist. However, this type of AI is unglamorous and uncool, according to Shwetak Patel, director of health technologies at Google and a professor of computer science and engineering at the University of Washington. “AI can stretch the capability of that sensor to do things that we may not have thought were possible.” he continues, but there is still a lot more it can already do. This includes functions like blood oxygen and fall detection that are already present in well-known wearable technology. Although usually not as accurate as devices used to diagnose diseases, some researchers are attempting to use the relatively basic health data provided by wearables to detect disease, including COVID-19.

AI has so far contributed minimally to the rise of the quantified self. In an effort to elevate artificial intelligence, researchers hope to leverage recent developments.

The upcoming health coaches powered by AI

In a recent paper that Patel co-authored, researchers fed wearable data into large language models—like OpenAI’s GPT series—and the models produced reasoning about the data that might help clinicians diagnose mental health conditions. For instance, the AI system would identify irregular sleep patterns in research participants and state that they “may be an indicator of various issues, including stress, anxiety, or other disorders.”

According to Patel, the next generation of AI models will be able to reason, which means they may be applied to individualized health coaching. It’s unclear, according to some researchers, whether large language models are capable of reasoning. Saying, “Your average heart rate is 70 beats per minute,” is one thing, but he goes on.

According to Patel, wearable data may also make it possible for AI “coaches” to comprehend users’ health at a far deeper level than a human coach could. A human coach could, for instance, ask you how you slept, but wearable technology could offer comprehensive, unbiased sleep data.

Maher has also contributed to the writing of a review of the literature on the impact of AI chatbots on lifestyle choices. The review revealed that, while the impact was not as great as that of wearables, chatbot health coaches can assist individuals in improving their diets, getting more sleep, and increasing their physical activity levels. The rather basic chatbots used in these studies were created years ago, long before OpenAI’s ChatGPT, for instance, and Maher anticipates that more advanced AI health coaches would be more successful. She does point out that there are still issues with large language models like ChatGPT that need to be resolved, such as the models’ propensity to invent facts.

Maher has also contributed to the writing of a review of the literature on the impact of AI chatbots on lifestyle choices. The review revealed that, while the impact was not as great as that of wearables, chatbot health coaches can assist individuals in improving their diets, getting more sleep, and increasing their physical activity levels. The rather basic chatbots used in these studies were created years ago, long before OpenAI’s ChatGPT, for instance, and Maher anticipates that more advanced AI health coaches would be more successful. She does point out that there are still issues with large language models like ChatGPT that need to be resolved, such as the models’ propensity to invent facts.

According to Beam, there are good reasons to be wary of chatbot health coaches. Initially, they experience the same gradual decline in efficacy as wearables. Second, when it comes to health, even human scientists with access to massive amounts of personal data still lack sufficient knowledge to provide tailored recommendations.

An artificial intelligence (AI) health coach could keep track of whether a particular action appears to be beneficial and modify its recommendations accordingly, even in the absence of sufficient evidence to provide specific recommendations to various individuals based on their health data. For instance, Sandeep Waraich, Google’s product management lead for wearable devices, says that heart rate data collected during a recommended workout could be used to guide future exercise recommendations.

Not just large tech companies are attempting to leverage wearable data to offer ongoing, individualised health coaching. App for health Based on movement and heart-rate data, Humanity claims to be able to determine a user’s “biological age” to within three years. A wrist-worn accelerometer was worn for a week by 100,000 participants in the U.K. Biobank, which provided the data used to develop Humanity’s algorithm. However, tracking the changes in biological age excites Humanity’s co-founder and chief strategy officer, Michael Geer, even more.

According to Beam, the issue with monitoring metrics such as Humanity’s “biological age” is that there is currently insufficient data connecting them to concrete health outcomes, such as a decline in all-cause mortality. According to him, there is an issue with AI’s application in healthcare in general. “In general, it’s best to proceed cautiously in this situation.

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Microsoft Expands Copilot Voice and Think Deeper

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Microsoft Expands Copilot Voice and Think Deeper

Microsoft is taking a major step forward by offering unlimited access to Copilot Voice and Think Deeper, marking two years since the AI-powered Copilot was first integrated into Bing search. This update comes shortly after the tech giant revamped its Copilot Pro subscription and bundled advanced AI features into Microsoft 365.

What’s Changing?

Microsoft remains committed to its $20 per month Copilot Pro plan, ensuring that subscribers continue to enjoy premium benefits. According to the company, Copilot Pro users will receive:

  • Preferred access to the latest AI models during peak hours.
  • Early access to experimental AI features, with more updates expected soon.
  • Extended use of Copilot within popular Microsoft 365 apps like Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.

The Impact on Users

This move signals Microsoft’s dedication to enhancing AI-driven productivity tools. By expanding access to Copilot’s powerful features, users can expect improved efficiency, smarter assistance, and seamless integration across Microsoft’s ecosystem.

As AI technology continues to evolve, Microsoft is positioning itself at the forefront of innovation, ensuring both casual users and professionals can leverage the best AI tools available.

Stay tuned for further updates as Microsoft rolls out more enhancements to its AI offerings.

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Google Launches Free AI Coding Tool for Individual Developers

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Google Launches Free AI Coding Tool for Individual Developers

Google has introduced a free version of Gemini Code Assistant, its AI-powered coding assistant, for solo developers worldwide. The tool, previously available only to enterprise users, is now in public preview, making advanced AI-assisted coding accessible to students, freelancers, hobbyists, and startups.

More Features, Fewer Limits

Unlike competing tools such as GitHub Copilot, which limits free users to 2,000 code completions per month, Google is offering up to 180,000 code completions—a significantly higher cap designed to accommodate even the most active developers.

“Now anyone can easily learn, generate code snippets, debug, and modify applications without switching between multiple windows,” said Ryan J. Salva, Google’s senior director of product management.

AI-Powered Coding Assistance

Gemini Code Assist for individuals is powered by Google’s Gemini 2.0 AI model and offers:
Auto-completion of code while typing
Generation of entire code blocks based on prompts
Debugging assistance via an interactive chatbot

The tool integrates with popular developer environments like Visual Studio Code, GitHub, and JetBrains, supporting a wide range of programming languages. Developers can use natural language prompts, such as:
Create an HTML form with fields for name, email, and message, plus a submit button.”

With support for 38 programming languages and a 128,000-token memory for processing complex prompts, Gemini Code Assist provides a robust AI-driven coding experience.

Enterprise Features Still Require a Subscription

While the free tier is generous, advanced features like productivity analytics, Google Cloud integrations, and custom AI tuning remain exclusive to paid Standard and Enterprise plans.

With this move, Google aims to compete more aggressively in the AI coding assistant market, offering developers a powerful and unrestricted alternative to existing tools.

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Elon Musk Unveils Grok-3: A Game-Changing AI Chatbot to Rival ChatGPT

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Elon Musk Unveils Grok-3: A Game-Changing AI Chatbot to Rival ChatGPT

Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence company xAI has unveiled its latest chatbot, Grok-3, which aims to compete with leading AI models such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT and China’s DeepSeek. Grok-3 is now available to Premium+ subscribers on Musk’s social media platform x (formerly Twitter) and is also available through xAI’s mobile app and the new SuperGrok subscription tier on Grok.com.

Advanced capabilities and performance

Grok-3 has ten times the computing power of its predecessor, Grok-2. Initial tests show that Grok-3 outperforms models from OpenAI, Google, and DeepSeek, particularly in areas such as math, science, and coding. The chatbot features advanced reasoning features capable of decomposing complex questions into manageable tasks. Users can interact with Grok-3 in two different ways: “Think,” which performs step-by-step reasoning, and “Big Brain,” which is designed for more difficult tasks.

Strategic Investments and Infrastructure

To support the development of Grok-3, xAI has made major investments in its supercomputer cluster, Colossus, which is currently the largest globally. This infrastructure underscores the company’s commitment to advancing AI technology and maintaining a competitive edge in the industry.

New Offerings and Future Plans

Along with Grok-3, xAI has also introduced a logic-based chatbot called DeepSearch, designed to enhance research, brainstorming, and data analysis tasks. This tool aims to provide users with more insightful and relevant information. Looking to the future, xAI plans to release Grok-2 as an open-source model, encouraging community participation and further development. Additionally, upcoming improvements for Grok-3 include a synthesized voice feature, which aims to improve user interaction and accessibility.

Market position and competition

The launch of Grok-3 positions xAI as a major competitor in the AI ​​chatbot market, directly challenging established models from OpenAI and emerging competitors such as DeepSeek. While Grok-3’s performance claims are yet to be independently verified, early indications suggest it could have a significant impact on the AI ​​landscape. xAI is actively seeking $10 billion in investment from major companies, demonstrating its strong belief in their technological advancements and market potential.

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