Google, like most other tech companies, believes AI will drive the next wave of advancements in health technology. The business announced plans to improve Google Lens for better skin condition searches, integrate a version of its Gemini chatbot in the medical area, and integrate a personal health chatbot into the Fitbit app during its annual The Check Up event.
The further information regarding an experimental AI capability for Fitbit customers that was only hinted at last year was among Google’s most intriguing releases on Tuesday. Fitbit Labs will enable users to “connect the dots” and make inferences from health data collected through wearable technology. You can generate personalized charts and ask inquiries in natural language to a chatbot within the mobile app to learn more about your health.
The company hasn’t yet gone into great depth about the Fitbit chatbot, but an example it published Tuesday shows a user asking about potential connections between activity and sleep. The Fitbit assistant answered that the user’s days with higher activity scores correlated with better sleep (while cautioning not to assume that’s the only reason).
The Fitbit generative AI tool will arrive later this year. Google says it will (at least initially) only be available to Fitbit Premium subscribers with Android devices enrolled in the Fitbit Labs program.
The company sees Google Lens as filling some healthcare gaps where text-based searches fall short. It says a feature (introduced last year) that uses Lens to identify “visually similar matches from the web” for skin conditions is now available in over 150 countries. It can work even when you don’t know where to begin when describing a dermatological disorder.
In a similar light, Google has added new images and diagrams to its web results from reputable online sources to help you understand conditions like neck pain. Up next: The company sees the visual results powering its searches for more health conditions, including migraines, kidney stones and pneumonia. The visual search engine updates are expected to roll out over the next few months.
The company also mentioned that Fitbit and Google Research are partnering with health and wellness experts and other medical professionals to create a new AI model for health and wellness. The long-term goal is for the Gemini-powered large language model (LLM) to power its future AI features across Google’s various health offerings.
