An app relies on users' personal data to calculate how long until their demise. Photo / 123rf
A “Save the Date” card suggested planning my end-of-life celebration for April 17, 2042. That got my attention.
When a friend mentioned that he’d used a new artificial-intelligence-powered smartphone app called Death Clock AI to learn when his ticker would give out, I wanted to know my end date as well.
I had used a rudimentary web-based calculator nearly a decade ago, which said my time would be up in 2031 – now just six years away!
I was hoping an app combining AI and statistical modelling to predict my personal life expectancy would buy me more time.
It did! I am pleased to report that I won’t die until 2042, at age 84.
Those early death clocks – or longevity calculators – used only basic information to estimate how much time you had left. The web-based tool I used previously asked four questions – about birth date, body mass index, smoking, and mental health status.
There are, of course, other life expectancy calculators – the Social Security Administration provides one, as do such insurance companies as John Hancock and Northwest Mutual.
But Death Clock AI is a giant step ahead with its reliance on artificial intelligence, which is fed by user data and trained on more than 1200 life expectancy studies, allowing for a more personalised prediction of a death date.
As such, the app highlights both the promise and the perils of AI.
Although the specific date of death is obviously not intended to be accurate – the app’s disclaimer says it’s “for fun only” – it does tie your personal habits to your likelihood of living into old age and tells you what lifestyle changes might buy you more time.
Thus Death Clock AI’s motto: “Know your date. Change your fate.”
After responding to 29 questions – including how much of the day I spend sitting, whether I get at least seven hours of sleep a night and whether I get all my recommended cancer screenings – I had my answer.
A darkly humorous “Save the Date” card suggested I plan my end-of-life celebration for April 17, 2042.
I also learned the most likely ways I would die: sleep disorders, cardiovascular disease, or cancer, in that order.
Of course, cancer and heart disease are the two big killers in the United States. But I was surprised by how harmful sleep issues are.
I was glad to get 17 more years instead of the measly six, even though I knew the Save the Date stuff is just marketing.
Company founder and chief executive Brent Franson is candid about the app’s real value, which is providing a better understanding of how lifestyle changes can affect our longevity.
For instance, I saw that if I ate more fruits and vegetables, slept better and exercised more, I could extend my life expectancy an additional five years for a total of 22.
It’s a whole other question as to whether I’d want to live into my 90s, recalling my mother’s complaint that to be among the last of her friends and family living is no fun.
Taking up smoking or eating more fast food would mean I’d be planning an earlier farewell.
But don’t we already know that smoking is bad and that exercise and broccoli are good?
Yes, but seeing your own possible expiration date is a powerful in-your-face message that shows you the effect of your habits.
I asked Franson, 42, what his own quiz had told him.
He learned that he’d die at age 78, which is about the usual life expectancy of a white male in the US.
On the one hand, he said, “I consider myself pretty healthy. I’m 42 and pretty active. I think I eat pretty well. I mostly don’t drink.”
But, he added, his A1C, a test that shows the average blood sugar level over the past two to three months, is “a bit high” and his cholesterol number and blood pressure are also problematically high, suggesting that his heart health could be a concern going forward.
The app, he said, “is making me aware of this in no uncertain terms … I’ve got to take that really seriously.”
I had a similar reaction. I know how poorly I sleep, and I know how important a good night’s sleep is. But when my results showed I’m most likely to die because of a sleep disorder, I had an “aha” moment.
Knowing that improving my sleep would remove my top death threat just might motivate me to do something about it, such as keeping to a regular schedule, avoiding large meals before bedtime, getting rid of screens in my bedroom and limiting naps.
I asked Arthur Caplan, a bioethicist at New York University, for his opinion on the Death Clock AI.
Caplan, 75, told me the app predicted he has 14 more years. But he cautioned that many other factors also influence lifespan, including our genes, which help determine our risk for certain diseases.
In fact, Caplan said, “the majority of your lifespan is driven by your parents’ income, your educational level, whether you have a job, whether you live downstream from polluting chemical refineries or a radioactive plant that’s dumping something into your water”.
Most of these factors are impossible to alter, so the app doesn’t ask about them. The point, Franson said, is “to ask about things that people can change”.
Other experts agree that there are concerns about an app offering up a death date, including harmful effects on mental health and financial planning.
Ryan Zabrowski, a financial planner, said: “One of the greatest concerns for retirees is the risk of outliving their money. A tool like a Death Clock AI could empower people to make smarter, more informed financial decisions.”
Unless, of course, the prediction is wrong.
Still, getting a reminder that we have some control over our health in a way that may affect longevity is important.
Experts caution that anyone entering personal data into an app should be careful.
The final, optional step in the Death Clock AI app is a free trial of its Longevity Plan (US$39 a year), which will allow you to upload lots of your personal health data for customised help.
But the app’s privacy policy says the information you provide could be shared with business partners (security consultants, analytics providers, payment processors) and with advertisers, marketers, and data brokers.
Franson says his company is not selling the data and is instead focused on the subscription business model.
He added: “I think ultimately the business model needs to evolve because some people don’t like paying for subscriptions”, suggesting the company might develop partnerships to market such recommended products as vitamins or sleep trackers, which is a common practice.
Still, when it comes to privacy, the devil can be in the details. The company’s privacy policy reads in part:
“All of your personal data that we collect may be transferred to a third party if we undergo a merger, acquisition, bankruptcy … in which that third party assumes control of our business (in whole or part).” So buyer beware.
As I was finishing up this column, I was curious what the Social Security Administration’s tool, which uses two questions (age and sex), would say about my life expectancy. It was basically the same as Death Clock AI – I’ve got 17 years left. But who really knows.
I’ll try to live with no regrets, as though each day could be my last.
