HealthGPT hints at a futuristic world of smart fitness apps with personalized assistants. Stanford University researchers took the generative AI and its large language model (LLM) and linked it to an iPhone’s Apple Health app. This new application is known as HealthGPT.
healthGPT can answer any questions related to a user’s well-being, through a “chat-style” interface, which draws information from Apple health. Users can ask the app how much they have slept in the past week. It responds with a detailed description, and the user can follow up with their own questions, such as tips to improve sleep, that the assistant gets from the internet. HealthGPT also keeps track of various body metrics like active energy, step count, heart rate, exercise minutes, and body mass index.
The app requires permissions to access data from various Apple Health features, and provides tailored advice based on individual fitness goals. The demo version of HealthGPT is available to download on the iPhone via its GitHub repository. However, the set-up is relatively complex and requires certain coding skills. It is important to note that the app is not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment, and may provide incorrect information – so use HealthGPT at your own risk.
HealthGPT was developed by a team led by Varun Shenoy, and its LLM was built on top of the CardinalKit framework by Byers Center for Biodesign. It is unclear as to whether the team plan to launch the app officially. If it does make it to the App Store, it may revolutionize the way fitness software works, giving users a custom fitness assistant on their iPhones. It is also possible to previously integrate ChatGPT with the Apple Watch.
Varun Shenoy and his team have made clear that the app shares with OpenAI aggregated HealthKit data from the past two weeks. Therefore, users who wish to protect their health data may not wish to participate in the experiment.
The Stanford team’s experiment challenges us to think of an unknown future: by having an AI which is both aware of the user’s health data and provides personalized advice, it could revolutionize the way we look after our personal well-being.
