A Vital Journey for The 21st Century: Precision Health, Longevity Science, and AI

Why am I excited about this intersection of precision health, longevity science and AI?

Image: Richard Barker

Precision medicine – matching treatment to individuals – is now extending into precision health. Longevity science has emerged from the fringes of biology to develop biomarkers of aging and interventions to stall or even reverse it. And every discussion of AI highlights its impact on health as perhaps its greatest beneficial effect for humanity.

I have been involved in each of these fields for several years, as a company founder, writer and consultant, and have seen them converging. Longevity sessions at the recent AI show CogX were better attended than almost anything else, and a recent Copenhagen conference on longevity science featured many AI applications. The lines between the fields are blurring day by day.

What’s the journey’s destination?

Creating the right strategy for each individual to live a longer, healthier life. A very simple concept, and one that virtually everyone on the planet would immediately sign up for. A market, if you like, of 100% of the world’s population.

So what’s the holdup?

Well, it’s complicated. Many factors – many biomarkers – have been proposed to measure an individual’s position on their own aging trajectory. Biological clocks, blood tests, microbiome profiles, wearable data – all these hold clues, but there is no agreement on a formula. And there are many, many possible ‘interventions’ to slow or turn back these clocks, from meditation to gene therapy. We are also beginning to realise that human psychology and social setting plays a large part in aging well, as is crystal clear from the ‘Blue Zones’ being analysed around the world.

Where does AI come in?

Wherever there are many different data points, driving forces and subgroups, AI can offer insights. One of my companies, Metadvice, uses AI to decode medical record data to tailor treatment decisions for diagnosed disease, and analyses wearable data to define the best life path for an individual with diabetes. Why not take a similar approach to decode the health data for someone who wants to age without disease – to extend their ‘healthspan’?

Isn’t this just for billionaires?

No. Emphatically not. In fact, the greatest challenge is to devise affordable strategies that can even have impact on the Global South, the 5 billion people whose healthcare, when they get sick, is so inadequate. Of course there will be tiers of affordability: tests that cost tens or hundreds of dollars, or supplements in the same price range can’t be proposed for rural Africa or India. But over time we will find surrogates – cheaper tests, natural foodstuffs and smartphone-linked devices that can match these settings. However, we should not start by placing a cost ceiling on our thinking, as we know that disruptive technologies steadily become available and affordable almost everywhere.

Where do you come in?

This is a challenge that needs the intersection of great minds and experienced practitioners. No one expert, no one clinic, no one company can conquer this challenge, so my goal is to use this channel to gather the insights and proposals that can propel us on a journey of vital importance for the world.

It is a vital journey because the old model of healthcare – dealing with the problems of disease only when they arise – is inhuman and increasingly unaffordable. It is time to use the power of technology to open up ‘precision health span’, as I call it, to enable millions to live longer, healthier lives.

What am I proposing?

Each two weeks or so I will share my viewpoint and pose a sequence of questions to map out the journey. I’ll feed back to you the emerging consensus on the answers – plus ‘blue sky’ ideas on which there’s not yet consensus. You can adopt them in your own lives and businesses – you’ll be infringing no one’s IP! And, step by step, we will become a community with tremendous influence on the field. I’m excited to take on this journey and thrilled to have you with me.