As it struggles to hit its stride in the generative AI race, Apple is quietly working on an "AI doctor service," Bloomberg reports — a move that the company seemingly hopes will revitalize its foray into medical tech.
The secret initiative — dubbed Project Mulberry and nicknamed "Health+" — aims to give a facelift to Apple's fairly basic Health app, along with integrating a "health coach." Bloomberg described the service as being powered "by a new AI agent that would replicate — at least to some extent — a real doctor."
The use of the term "AI agent" here is noteworthy, as it entails a higher degree of autonomy than a model described as an AI assistant.
Using your Apple devices like an iPhone or Apple Watch, the idea is that the revamped Health app will collect all sorts of health metrics ranging from your heart-rate. Then, based on that data, the AI doctor will recommend ways to improve your health.
Just how deep will these recommendations go? Per the report, the Health app will have a major emphasis on food tracking, something that the current app doesn't do. In some shape or form, the AI doctor is supposed to help users with those nutrition features, though it's unclear how.
Ambitiously, Apple is also working on using your phone's camera so the AI agent can study your workout, giving you tips on your form.
It's worth being skeptical about how these features will work in practice. Apple's stab at AI, Apple Intelligence, was largely seen as an underwhelming flop.
The greatest concern is the tech's proclivity for hallucinating, something that Apple caught flak for when its AI constantly butchered summaries of news headlines, leading the company to suspend the feature.
These misinformation risks won't go away with deploying an "AI doctor." If anything, the stakes will be higher.
To that end, Apple is trying to assemble a medical A-team, including experts in sleep, nutrition, physical therapy, mental health, and cardiology, per Bloomberg, to create explainer videos that the AI doctor would refer patients to. If your data shows poor heart rate trends, for example, then the AI would show you a video made by one of these doctors about the risk of heart disease. Apple is also searching for a "major doctor personality" to serve as the face of the service.
As it stands, the project is the top priority for Apple's entire health division, and is being led by Sumbul Desai, a Stanford doctor who serves as the company's VP of health. A release is due as early as iOS 19.4, according to the report, a software update that's anticipated to rollout next spring or summer.
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