A few years ago, I firmly believed that I was going to die. Although (spoiler alert) I don’t have, my severe health anxiety and tendency to think the worst is always there. But the increase in health tracking smart devices such as Apple Newly announced Apple Watch Series 11 – I made important decisions as AI tried to understand new ways of body data. To give me peace of mind, AI and constant tracking need to stay away from my personal health. I will explain.
Sometime around 2016, my migraine lasted for a few weeks. I increased my anxiety dramatically during this period due to the ongoing worry. When I finally called NHS hotline in the UK and explained my various symptoms, they told me I needed to go to the nearest hospital and see it within 2 hours. “Go there with someone,” I remember clearly that they told me, “it’s faster than giving you an ambulance.”
This call confirmed my worst fear – death is coming.
It turns out that my fear of early demise is unfounded. The reason is actually a serious muscle strain, which is when photographing a friend’s wedding with multiple heavy cameras hanging all day. But the hotline just looked at the limited data I provided. As a result, they might (probably right) take a “better than regret” approach and urge me to do medical care right away just in case I’m really at risk.
The Apple Watch has always had various heart rate tracking tools and I have always avoided them.
I struggled with health anxiety most of my adult life, and while there was no real evidence to support them, plots like this gave me a lot of the ability to reach the absolute worst conclusion. Have my ears ringed? It must be a brain tumor. There is a jingle in my belly? Well, it’s better to keep my business organized.
Over the years I have learned to get along with it and while I still have ups and downs, I know better about what triggered me. I learned it alone no way Google My Symptoms. Because whatever my symptoms are, cancer is always Search may cause a possibility of searching. Medical sites, including the NHS’ own website, do not provide any comfort and usually only cause a shocking panic attack.
Sadly, I found that I had similar reactions to many health tracking tools. I loved my Apple Watch at first and my ability to read my heart rate during my workout was helpful. Then, I found that I was checking more and more frequencies all day. Then the question climbed up: “Why is my heart rate high when I sit down? Is this normal? I’ll try again in 5 minutes.” When inevitably there is no difference (or worse), panic happens naturally.
I’ve used Apple watches several times, but I’ve found that heart rate tracking has more stress than useful.
Whether tracking heart rate, blood oxygen levels, or sleep scores, I’m obsessed with the “normal” range. Whenever my data goes out of that range, I immediately think that it means I’m going to be there for keel. The more data these devices provide, the more things I want to worry about. Now, the new Apple Watch Series 11 can monitor blood pressure, so now I can also worry about it.
Of course, there is an argument that I just need to worry about reminding me of the problem. And because of wearing it, I’m actually safer. Of course, Apple’s heartbreaking promotional video at its September launch tells the story of people whose watches never perished in an untimely manner, and that’s a powerful reason. But I know that’s not my way of thinking. Instead of letting these tools do things in the backstage in my life, I am obsessed with indicators
I learned to put my worries in trouble and occasionally continue using smartwatches without having a lot of problems with my mental health (I have to actively use any heart-related features like ECG), but AI-based health tools scare me.
Not just Apple, the problem here. Earlier this year, Samsung introduced us to its new Galaxy AI tools and all the ways Google’s Gemini AI is said to help us in our daily lives. Samsung Health’s algorithm will track your heart rate and notify you of changes as it fluctuates throughout the day. It will provide personalized insights on diet and exercise to help your cardiovascular health. You can even ask questions about AI agents related to your health.
For many people, this sounds like a good overall perspective for your health, but not for me. To me, it sounds like collecting and waving more data in front of me, forcing me to acknowledge it and create endless feedback of obsession, worrying and inevitably panic. But for me, AI issues are the biggest red flag. AI tools essentially have to make the “best guess” answer based on information publicly available online. Asking a question is really just a quick way to run a Google search, and as I found out, Google search health queries are not a great ending for me.
Samsung showed off various ways of AI in its health apps during its unpacked keynote.
Just like the NHS phone operator who accidentally panicked about death, the AI-based health assistant will only provide answers based on limited information about me. Asking a question about my heart health can lead to all kinds of information, just like checking out why I have a headache on a health website. But it’s like a headache able Technically, it is a symptom of cancer, and it is also more likely to be a muscular distortion. Or a sign that I wasn’t drinking enough water. Or I need to move a little away from the screen. Or until 2 a.m. as Yakuza: Unlimited Wealth. Or a hundred other reasons, all of which are far more likely to be the culprit than the ones I have already determined.
But will AI give me an environment I don’t have to worry about and be obsessed with? Will provide me with all Potential results? It may be intended to give a full understanding, but may risk feeding “if” worrying. And, like Google’s AI overview tells people how Glue the pizzaWill AI health tools just search on the internet and provide me with an answer with inaccurate inferences that could turn my anxiety into a full-scale panic attack area?
Or, like the kind doctor in the hospital that day, he smiled at the crying people sitting across from whom they had already drafted a farewell to their family on the phone in the waiting room, and the AI tool might see the data, simply saying, “You’re fine, Andy, Andy, stop worrying and sleeping.”
Maybe it will be like this one day. Maybe health tracking tools and AI insights will be able to provide me with much-needed logic and reassurance to deal with my anxiety rather than being the cause. But until then, it wasn’t a risk I was willing to take.
