An Apple® A Day Keeps The Doctor Away

We’ve often talked about Minority Report and how it demonstrated predictive law enforcement — that is, to statistically predict when a crime might occur based on pattern–matching with previous crimes. For example, there might be a statistically increased chance of a burglary in your home on the nights before Christmas, and more so, in area X and at time Y.

Predictive law enforcement makes for a good Hollywood movie, but what about predictive healthcare? With the announcement of Apple’s Health Kit, Apple Watch and Apple Pay, it’s becoming clear to me that as time goes we will soon have predictive healthcare.

High-Risk #

You are a middle aged man, you are over-weight, you don’t workout according to Apple Watch, it’s Monday, it’s the morning, you have a family history of cardiovascular disorders, you buy a lot of red meat and never purchase dental floss with Apple Pay, and you’ve had more meetings than normal recently.

Low-Risk #

You are a young woman, you are slim, you regularly workout according to Apple Watch, it’s Sunday, it’s the afternoon, you have no family history of cardiovascular disorders, you buy a lot of green vegetables and often purchase dental floss with Apple Pay, and you’ve had no increase in meetings recently.

We talk about Minority Report and predictive policing, but what about an ambulance turning up: “Sir, you’re about to have a heart attack.”

— Youssef (@YS) September 10, 2014

To qualify as truly useful, a predictions should be much more nuanced than the ones I’ve listed above, of course. However, we are creatures of habit, and just as with crime, if we can study the physiological and habitual trends in the lead up to a heart attack, we may be better positioned to deal with or prevent such a catastrophic event from happening. But when it does happen, here’s how Apple Watch will save your life, read that post, I’m onto something.

I’m on Twitter.