Can AI predict when you will die? This AI app claims results are ‘significant’

The AI-powered longevity app Death Clock, which was released recently, has become very popular among customers. The app has been downloaded 125,000 times since its launch, Bloomberg reported citing market intelligence firm Sensor Tower.
The app has practised on over 1,200 life expectancy cases with 53 million participants. It takes into account information such as stress level, workout, and food habits to estimate the date of death. The app developer Brent Franson claims that the results are “pretty significant.”
The app tops in the category of health and fitness apps.
The Death Clock users have to pay $40 per year as a subscription. The app suggests various lifestyle changes to reduce mortality and gives a second-by-second countdown of the estimated time remaining.
“There’s probably not a more important date in your life than the day that you’re going to die,” Franson said.
In the United States, life expectancy is a key measure used in all economic and financial estimates by governments, companies, and individuals for welfare policies and financial planning.
The US has a poor life expectancy compared to other developed economies. The US Social Security Administration has a table to estimate mortality rates. According to it, an 85-year-old man has a 10 percent chance of dying in a year, with an average of 5.6 years to live.
However, Franson believes that the new app will give an accurate measure, a customised death clock, the report said.
Recent publications demonstrate that such topics have caught interest in economics. The National Bureau of Economic Research released two papers based on this topic.
A paper titled “On the Limits of Chronological Age” reflected the different ways in which the ageing process affects physiological capacities. According to the paper, various factors of economic behaviour, such as the readiness to join the labour force, may not be rightly determined by calendar age.
Hence, using calendar age to determine the functionality of people and society will not be able to “fully harness the benefits of increasing longevity,” the report said, citing researchers from Harvard and the London Business School.
The second working paper used the “value per statistical life” (VSL), a cost-benefit analysis of pollution regulation or compensation for workplace accidents. It is calculated based on compensation for workers in high-risk jobs.
Several decisions, such as savings, finances, etc, are based on unreliable averages for life expectancy, and hence, such an app will give a reliable measure, the report said.
Additionally, AI will also help to boost life expectancy by advancement in medical facilities.
Many medically advanced technologies are already out, such as heart-rate monitors and maximal oxygen-consumption gauges from wearables, which, paired with AI, are expected to reduce mortality.
It is often stated that loneliness reduces life expectancy, whereas gratitude may increase it. The report cites a Harvard study stating that the most grateful women had a 9 per cent lower risk of death within three years.
Another factor that impacts life expectancy is money. Various studies, including the one by Nobel Prize-winning economist Angus Deaton on “Deaths of Despair”, have mentioned a gap between rich and poor Americans.