The Sickening Marriage of Silicon Valley and Health Care: Arianna Huffington and Sam Altman Join Forces to Create the Next AI-Driven Health Scourge
In a move that is equal parts alarming and predictable, self-proclaimed wellness guru Arianna Huffington and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman are teaming up to launch Thrive AI Health, a venture that promises to "democratize" health coaching using AI-powered assistant tech. But is this really a blessing for the ailing health care industry, or just a wolf in sheep’s clothing?
The project, backed by Huffington’s Thrive Global and the OpenAI Startup Fund, will reportedly develop an "AI health coach" that gives personalized advice on sleep, food, fitness, stress management, and "connection" – whatever that means. Because what could possibly go wrong with a system that analyzes our every move and whispers health tips in our ears?
Thrive AI Health has appointed DeCarlos Love, a former Google executive, as CEO. Because who better to guide this venture than someone who’s already sold his soul to the tech giant?
But the real question is, how will Thrive AI Health navigate the treacherous waters of patient privacy and data security? The company’s early days have already been marred by controversy, with allegations of biased AI models and potential data breaches. And don’t even get me started on the "strategic investors" – Walmart co-founder Helen Walton’s Alice L. Walton Foundation – and the Alice L. Walton School of Medicine, which will apparently be one of the initial health partners. The connections are getting juicier by the minute.
Huffington and Altman claim that Thrive AI Health will be different, that it will "make possible very precise recommendations tailored to each person." But let’s not forget the catastrophic failures of IBM’s Watson Health and Babylon Health, two AI-driven health apps that promised the world and delivered nothing but heartache.
And then there’s the issue of bias – because let’s face it, AI is only as good as the data it’s trained on, and the data is often plagued by unconscious biases. A recent study found that OpenAI’s ChatGPT chatbot often answers questions in a way that reinforces false beliefs about biological differences between Black and white people. You think this won’t happen with Thrive AI Health? Think again.
To placate critics, Thrive AI Health has named Dr. Gbenga Ogedegbe, director of NYU Langone’s Institute for Excellence in Health Equity, as an advisor. But will that be enough to stave off the inevitable controversy? I think not.
So here’s the question: can we trust these Silicon Valley insiders to truly care about our health, or are they just using their latest toy to line their pockets with even more cash? Only time will tell, but one thing’s for sure – we’ll be keeping a close eye on Thrive AI Health.
