AI is everywhere, which is exciting for some and concerning for others – and nowhere is this dichotomy more prevalent than in healthcare. AI has the ability to enable huge advances in healthcare, both at home on your phones and smartwatches, and in the medical industry, advancing tools and research using vast bodies of training data. However, because AI relies on collecting data to train the next generation of models, its use of sensitive personal information has come under scrutiny.
Unsurprisingly, Samsung is relying entirely on AI. On July 22 at Samsung Galaxy Unpacked, we saw how AI was used across Samsung’s ecosystem, particularly on the Samsung Health app and wearable devices like the Samsung Galaxy Watch. It analyzes the data you give it to tell you about problems like sleep apnea, irregular heartbeats, and even common illnesses like the common cold.
It’s not the only big tech company to jump headfirst into AI health: Google also did so with the overhaul of its Google Health app, revamping its premium tier into a chatbot called Google Health Coach.
Some people don’t trust AI with their health information, as our writer David Nield illustrates, and the cavalier use of user data by some AI companies clearly has users concerned. Is the shift toward AI in healthcare happening too quickly? Do we already have appropriate safeguards in place? And are your data used without your consent?
It seems it’s all about user trust. Samsung made headlines earlier this month for all the wrong reasons, when a claim appeared online that Samsung Health would delete your data unless you allowed the app to access your sensitive health information for AI training purposes. Samsung later clarified that this was not the case in a statement to 9to5Google. Even though the rumor was apparently false, it demonstrates how worried people are when it comes to AI collecting health data.
Trust and confidentiality
During Samsung Galaxy Unpacked, I had the opportunity to conduct a one-on-one interview with Annika Bizon, Vice President of Product and Marketing for Mobile Experience at Samsung, and ask her about Samsung’s AI and healthcare strategy, including how it intends to protect its users’ valuable data.
“The user is in control, right?” she told me, “you choose to decide what you want something to include about your health. You have control through your fame and through the Samsung health app. That’s number one. AI is there to help you and improve your experience.”
Bizon and his team also clarified that all of Samsung Health’s features are usable whether or not you choose to share your data. This attempt to reassure Samsung users about trust and privacy resonated throughout the Unpacked conference: When I approached someone to talk about Samsung’s new Intelligent Eyewear smart glasses, the first sales pitch I received focused on the privacy and transparency features. Clearly, Samsung and its partners at Google want to avoid the growing backlash against smart specs.
This continued during a Health Forum attended by journalists. Speaking about medical advances powered by Samsung and AI, Rohit Ali, Head of Technology Incubation Lab at Samsung R&D Institute UK, said during the panel: “As long as we ensure that data is private, trust can be viable. At Samsung, we fully believe that data belongs to the user, and we are only custodians of it.
Bizon said Samsung’s approach is “if AI is involved, you’re in control,” with the ability to toggle between what data you share and what data you don’t. However, she then added that when users start using these features, “you realize you don’t want to ‘opt out’ because it gives you a better understanding of your health.” Without choosing to use AI features, you’re not getting everything Samsung Health has to offer.
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“Gone are the days of 10,000 steps and eight hours of sleep,” Bizon said, telling me that old-fashioned advice never suited everyone. “We’re in a space where ‘your health is your way,’ and that’s where AI and incredible sensor technology innovation bring these two things together.
“We want to keep people away from doctors. We want to give people little nudges so they can improve their lives.”
Bizon talks about AI detecting trends in your body and seeing things before they happen, with preventative health features ensuring people don’t necessarily need doctors – and when they do, they detect problems like heart problems early.
Key to this is the new Vitals feature, which tracks five different metrics, many based on heart health, while you sleep with a Samsung Watch or Galaxy Ring. “Through things like understanding how your respiratory system works, it might tell you that you might have a cold,” says Bizon, “and therefore you can manage that. You might say, ‘I need more vitamins,’ or ‘I need to get a little more sleep,’ or ‘I might not go to the gym tomorrow.’
“Little triggers and little nudges, all the way to understanding your heart health in much more detail. Your ECG is taken while you sleep. And then, you know, it’s even approved by the MHRA. [the UK’s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency]which means you can send it directly to your doctor.”
An AI nutrition tracking feature will also be launching in beta on Samsung Health very soon, which will allow you to take a photo of your plate and record an estimate of your macros like Google Health and Garmin Connect do. These, coupled with the watches’ Antioxidant Index, which Bizon says helps users “understand what you’re putting into your body, so you can better manage your overall health,” have the potential to become a pretty powerful set of nutritional features across the Samsung ecosystem.
This preventative health design is part of Samsung’s desire to keep people away from doctors, as Bizon says, and allow its users to lead healthier lives. This could also work, provided that this overarching trust in Samsung’s ability to keep its users’ health data private is maintained.
At the Samsung Health Forum, Samsung’s head of digital health, Dr. Hon Pak, said: “Whether it’s data or the insights we get from it, someone has to be sure that it’s good for them.
Samsung is very careful and conscious with all of its trust-focused messaging, and it pays attention to controversies involving other companies like Meta. The success of its projects in favor of AI health depends on it.
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