Netflix Style technology can predict your death. Do you want to know?
Bottom Line: We’ve had different versions of a similar conversation previously. If someone or something could tell you exactly when you’re going to die, would you want to know? I’m very much in the yes camp. That kind of near certainty can help for planning purposes in ways you’d never be able to account for otherwise. For example, if you knew you would die in five years – would you live differently today? Tomorrow? Next week? If you knew you’d be around in 50 years, would it alter the way you handle your money and decisions right now?
With that thought in mind here’s the new wrinkle on the question. The same technology Netflix uses to provide you with movie and show recommendations has been deployed by Finnish researchers in medicine with staggering results. After five years of research using the computer algorithm to track and predict potentially fatal health events – it was accurate 90% of the time. Far outperforming doctors using the same data.
The technology, calledLogitBoost, studied data on 950 heart patients six years ago with theaforementioned results. It was accurate in predicting future cardiovascular events in addition to fatal outcomes 90% of the time. Part of what was revealing in the outcomes are thevarious differentdata points that affected outcomes. The program accounted for 85 different variables but also 58 different pieces of data that independently could impact outcomes. I mean no offense to even the best doctors but how many would even know there may be 58 different characteristics potentially affecting a single person’s outcome for a singular diagnosis?
Ever since IBM’s Watson was first being deployed for medical purposes, I’d figured this type of story would have been coming. I just didn’t think we’d be talking about the technology used by companies that stream TV. The research continues but the day isn’t far off when this will be used to aid your doctor. So back to the question. Do you want to know?