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Google is using Gemini to create a new AI model that will provide insights and recommendations for Fitbit users based on their personal health data.
Fitbit and Google are working together on a large language model focused on personal health in order to bring new features to the Fitbit app.
Google said it is fine tuning an AI model so that it can deliver personalised coaching capabilities – such as sending messages and guidance – that are based on a user’s personal health and fitness goals.
The tech giant aims for this AI model to provide more insights and recommendations for users based on the data received from their Fitbit and Pixel devices.
“For example, this model may be able to analyse variations in your sleep patterns and sleep quality, and then suggest recommendations on how you might change the intensity of your workout based on those insights,” said Google engineering and research VP Yossi Matias.
Google said the new large language model is being built on Gemini models and uses a diverse set of health signals from “high-quality research case studies”.
The new features will likely first appear on Fitbit Labs, which gives premium users early access to “experimental AI features”. Google said this service can give users a “fuller understanding” of their health data and ask questions in a natural way to learn more about their own health.
“At Google, we believe AI has the potential to transform health for everyone, everywhere, not just some people in some places,” said Google chief health officer Dr Karen DeSalvo.
Google’s parent company Alphabet revealed in late 2019 that it had agreed to purchase the fitness wearables firm for $2.1bn. The acquisition was finally completed in 2021 after regulatory delays.
But Fitbit has been put under scrutiny since then, as digital privacy rights group NOYB filed three complaints against the company in Austria, Italy and the Netherlands last year for alleged GDPR violations. The group claims Fitbit “forces new users of its app to consent to data transfers outside the EU”.
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