Fitbit’s new Gemini-powered well being coach is debuting in preview today, as a part of a completely new app expertise that was announced back in August. Premium subscribers within the US on Android may have entry to it first because it begins rolling out at this time, with plans to increase to iOS “later this 12 months,” in accordance with Taylor Helgren, Fitbit product supervisor.
The brand new well being coach is the muse for a completely rethought Fitbit app. Fairly than bolting AI options onto the prevailing app, the well being coach is obtainable as an opt-in expertise wrapped up in a redesigned Fitbit app. It’s not function full but — issues like vitamin and cycle monitoring are on the roadmap so as to add later — and individuals who choose in will have the ability to swap forwards and backwards between the brand new and common app each time they need. Onboarding begins with a 5 to 10 minute chat with the AI coach (textual content or spoken), which is able to assist set up your targets and what sort of suggestions the system will make for you. It’s all based mostly in your enter and Fitbit knowledge — previous and current — and the well being coach can be ready kind a weekly exercise plan for you based mostly on a library of workouts out there within the app. It’ll consider any tools you will have and what sort of coaching you wish to do — whether or not you need steerage ramping as much as a 5K or constructing a energy coaching routine.
When you’re arrange, the concept is that you just’ll use pure language to make changes and ask questions associated to your well being and health; conversations are tracked in a bit referred to as “coach’s notes.” When you’re coping with an harm or an unusually busy schedule, you possibly can let the coach know and it’ll make tweaks for you. It’s an unusually thorough integration of AI suggestions, which may typically really feel bolted on and spit out “Captain Apparent-level summaries” as my colleague and senior wearables reviewer Victoria Music places it.
There are some actual dangers to such a wide-ranging, AI-centric overhaul. Hallucinations can be an actual drawback, particularly contemplating that the well being coach is designed to area some medical questions in addition to subjects associated to health. Helgren says that the staff engaged with “inner and exterior clinicians and health specialists” together with an advisory panel to construct a security framework for the coach. Importantly, it’s additionally designed to refer customers to well being care professionals when needed.
It’s an bold replace, and at this time is only a first step of what could also be a protracted street to a full launch. Google says the well being coach can be absolutely out there “subsequent 12 months,” although isn’t committing to any timeframe extra particular than that.