Apple is working on an artificial intelligence doctor or healthcare coach, according to a report, to work as a kind of health coach that would be integrated with its mobile devices like the iPhone and Apple Watch. It would reportedly offer advice on food habits and exercise techniques, and use data that Apple already collects from Apple’s Health app and hardware including the Apple Watch.
The initiative is called Project Mulberry, as reported by Mark Gurman in a Bloomberg story this week, and it could yield a version for consumers as early as next year and launch with a future version of iOS. Apple didn’t immediately respond to request for comment.
It’s no secret that Apple CEO Tim Cook has been promising that the company’s long-term plans include a big push into more health-related technologies.
It’s unclear if Apple’s initiative would work as an actual diagnosing medical resource meant to replicate a physician, as Gurman’s report calling it an “AI doctor service” suggests, or if it’s meant to be more of a virtual health and wellness advisor.
According to the report, the AI agent is being trained on actual physician data and could include content from doctors and health experts as part of its service. The overall package could also end up as another pillar of Apple’s evolving services business and called “Health Plus.”
There’s some promise in marrying AI with health care, especially in preventive care and risk assessment, as the Mayo Clinic notes, however, others warn that mixing artificial intelligence with medical care could have its pitfalls. In December, the health care research nonprofit ECRI released a report citing AI as its top hazard for health care in 2025. While the report says AI could potentially transform health care for the better, issues such as inaccurate or misleading AI responses and AI-powered products that don’t work as promised are potential dangers for the health industry.
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