Scientists Say Their New AI Can Predict When You’re Going to Die

In a world where AI capabilities seem to continually surpass our wildest imaginations, a recent study from the Technical University of Denmark (DTU) claims to have developed an AI model, “life2vec,” capable of predicting people’s life outcomes, including the timing of their demise. Using a transformer model, life2vec purportedly interprets individuals’ birth details, education, health status, occupation, and salary to predict everything from premature death to personality traits. While the study’s lead researcher, Sune Lehmann, finds the idea of our lives as “a long sequence of events” comparable to a linguistic sentence, ethical concerns loom large. The potential for exploitation, similar to current uses of predictive technologies within tech companies, prompts Lehmann to call for critical reflection on the direction in which such technology might lead us.