Apple's New AI Health App May Repeat Google's Bad Advice
Google's health AI gave advice so wrong it was called 'unhinged.' Apple's next.
Apple has unveiled plans to give its Health app an AI makeover — a chatty assistant that looks at your steps, sleep and workouts, then tells you how to improve. The pitch is simple: instead of squinting at charts, you just ask your phone how you're doing and what to change. For anyone with an iPhone or Apple Watch, that's a feature arriving on a device you already own, likely at no extra cost.
The problem is that we've seen this movie before. When Google rebuilt the Fitbit app into Google Health, users hated the redesign — and then the AI assistant started misbehaving badly. According to the article, it handed out "unhinged" fitness advice, told "nonstop lies," and invented food-tracking numbers that simply weren't real. If you follow bad advice about what to eat or how hard to exercise, that's not just annoying — it can affect your actual health.
Here's the awkward twist. Apple tried to build its own AI, fell behind, and ended up turning to Google for help. That means the very same AI models that stumbled in Google Health may now be sitting behind Apple's Siri and, potentially, its Health app. Apple says its health features go through rigorous scientific testing with clinical experts, and it has a strong record on privacy — arguably better than Google's. But we don't know whether Apple tweaked Google's models or used them mostly as-is.
The honest takeaway: treat AI health advice like a friend who sounds confident but sometimes makes things up. It's fine for motivation and patterns. It is not a doctor, a dietitian or a diagnosis. If Apple gets the guardrails right, this could genuinely help you sleep better and move more. If it rushes, expect screenshots of absurd advice going viral — and real people acting on it.
- Apple is adding an AI assistant to its Health app that reads your fitness and sleep data and suggests improvements.
- Google tried the same thing with Fitbit and Google Health — users reported made-up food numbers, false claims and bizarre workout advice.
- Apple partly relies on Google's AI models, so it's unclear whether its version will be any more trustworthy.
- If AI gives you wrong advice about eating or exercise, the consequences go beyond a bad app review.
Why It Matters
An AI coach can motivate you — but if it invents health advice, you might act on it.