Healthier Living: AI Tools You Can Use Right Now

Welcome to our special edition health and wellness newsletter!

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is rapidly reshaping healthcare, offering tools that can make a real difference in your daily life. We’re here to make AI accessible, even for those new to the technology. Our mission is to bring you practical, easy-to-use AI solutions to help you and your family live healthier and happier.

Your feedback matters— so please let us know what you think by taking our poll at the end of this newsletter. Let’s get started!

AI Health Selfies 

We understand the frustration of medication refills, scheduling appointments, and navigating the maze of insurance benefits. But what if we told you there’s a free app that can simplify many of these healthcare tasks? Together uses your smartphone camera and AI to eliminate these obstacles. The best part? No typing or data entry is required—just point, click, and AI will handle the rest.

Developed by a practicing physician, Together allows you (or a caregiver) to measure vital health stats like blood pressure, heart rate, respiratory rate, and blood oxygen level by taking a selfie. The selfie feature eliminates the need for clunky devices and batteries, allowing those with chronic conditions and their caregivers to monitor key vitals easily.

You can watch how the app works here.

Together also helps to manage prescriptions and doctor appointments. Snap a picture of your pill bottles and the app uses AI to identify your doctor’s name and determine when you need refills and appointments. 

Together uses voice AI to automatically call the doctor’s office, schedule the appointment, and add it to your calendar. When you leave the doctor—or dentist or optometrist—with an appointment card, just snap a picture.

Together immediately adds the appointment to your Google or iPhone calendar. Smile for a selfie and streamline your healthcare!

ChatGPT Chatter

AI chatbots like ChatGPT, Claude, or Perplexity are increasingly being used for more than just work or casual questions—they’re becoming powerful tools for decoding complex medical information.

Diagnostic notes and test results can often feel overwhelming. A friend recently received a diagnosis that came with a flood of tests and cryptic notes from her doctor. She turned to ChatGPT, (the very good GPT-4o version won’t cost you anything), and uploaded the information she had. Then, she gave ChatGPT a role (“You are a medical expert”) and asked the AI to explain her diagnosis in clear, simple language.

The result? She was able to reduce her anxiety and gain a clearer understanding of her health. With ChatGPT, you can always ask followup questions about specific terms or conditions.

ChatGPT can also be a helpful tool to prepare for your next doctor’s visit. One approach is to use the ICE method, a technique healthcare providers use to explore a patient's Ideas, Concerns, and Expectations. Here are some prompt examples to demonstrate how it works:

•  "I'm a 46-year-old man, with a family history of heart attacks and strokes, and I'm concerned about my risk as I get older. Using the ICE method, what preventive measures should I ask my doctor about?"

•  "I'm a 50-year-old woman with high cholesterol, and my doctor wants me to take a statin. I'm not sure. Using the ICE method, what questions should I ask at my next appointment?"

• "My thyroid medication is causing side effects. Using the ICE method, what other therapies or medications should I discuss with my doctor?"

The bottom line: While ChatGPT can clarify information and help you prepare, it’s not a substitute for medical advice. Always consult with a healthcare professional for accurate diagnoses and treatment plans.

AI Health at Home

AI wearables and at-home monitoring devices are changing the game in health tech by blending advanced AI capabilities with everyday convenience, offering more than just fitness tracking or notifications.

Unlike traditional health tech, AI-driven devices are equipped with intelligent algorithms that adapt based on user behavior. Over time, they learn, evolve, and offer more personalized insights—making them increasingly intuitive and tailored to your specific health needs. Here are some highly-rated AI-powered products you might want to consider:

• AliveCor's KardiaMobile: An AI-powered EKG device that monitors heart health and detects anomalies, offering personalized cardiovascular care.

• Omron Blood Pressure Monitor: A quick and user-friendly device that provides precise blood pressure readings, making at-home monitoring easier.

• Oura Ring: Tracks sleep cycles, providing detailed insights into sleep quality and recommendations for improvement.

• Lief Therapeutics: A biofeedback wearable that helps manage stress and anxiety through real-time monitoring and mindfulness techniques. 

The bottom line: As AI wearables and at-home monitoring tools continue to evolve, they hold the potential to reduce healthcare costs and improve patient care by offering deeper, real-time insights. Stay tuned for more updates on the latest AI-powered health tools designed to enhance your well-being.

AI Health Coaching

Some of us are great at setting goals, then pursuing and tracking them with precision. For the rest of us, it’s just not that easy -- distractions often get in the way.  Wouldn’t it be wonderful to have a buddy who could help keep you focused?

Summit is an AI life coach with a mission to help clarify, organize, and reach your goals. Its coaching program is built on top-tier, real-world coaching methodologies. With Summit, you can communicate with your coach via talk or text — whichever suits you best.

How it works: The app starts by helping you to commit to your big goals in writing. Why not try using Summit for your health goals?

Summit breaks the goals down into bite-sized milestones, and then helps you to achieve them by acting as a 24/7 accountability partner, with a personality type that suits your motivational style (we prefer the idea of “empathetic friend” to “tough drill sergeant”). 

Your coach retains memory of all your conversations, seamlessly recalling previous discussions and insights.  We love the idea of receiving messages that positively reinforce when a milestone is reached, such as “you’ve had quite the healthy week!”

Summit prioritizes privacy and security, encrypting data storage with cloud providers, and redacting information after processing when possible. The app is available on Apple iOS or Android.

AI Healthy Eating

As we head into Fall and the weather begins to cool down, soup season will be here before we know it. RecipeGPT  is a specialized soup recipe generator that can help you craft something deliciously unique and healthy.

To get started, simply enter your main ingredient and two secondary ingredients in the site’s search bar. We chose acorn squash with chickpeas and spinach. Then we clicked on "create recipe" - and in less than 30 seconds we got a list of ingredients and step-by-step instructions.

The recipe included carrots, onion, garlic, vegetable broth, olive oil, paprika, and cumin, with a total prep and cook time of 30 minutes. Yum!

DishGen is another other recipe generator you might want to explore. All you have to do is type in a recipe idea or ingredients you have on hand and DishGen does the rest. We asked for a ‘heart healthy pasta recipe that is low in calories’ and instantly got a recipe for whole grain spaghetti tossed with vibrant sautéed spinach, juicy cherry tomatoes, and a touch of garlic.

As with most AI-models, these tools can potentially generate inaccuracies in ingredient amounts and weights, so be sure to double check measurements and ingredients. At a minimum, they’re great for inspiring new culinary creations.

AI in the News

• New AI tool can diagnose cancer, guide treatment, and predict patient survival. Read here.

• Smart AI modelling for precision medicine. Read here.

• Can AI help families make difficult end-of-life care decisions? Read here.

• Digital Deepak: Why the wellness icon created an AI version of himself. Watch here.

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Health.Now.AI Editorial team: Lori, Justin, and Lisa