Can AI help us age better? Scientists are trying to find out

Can AI help us age better? Scientists are using artificial intelligence to better understand why some people stay healthy into their 90s while others develop chronic disease decades earlier. Researchers at Bay Area labs say AI can help spot early signs of age-related illness, estimate an individual’s biological age, and identify lifestyle and biological factors linked to healthier aging by detecting patterns in large datasets. Tools are still being refined, and experts say major, ambitious uses such as accelerating drug development and testing are years away. Studies also must address bias because training data may not represent the full population diversity. In parallel, some patients are already benefiting, including AI-assisted scan readings that can reduce false positives. Institutions involved include Buck Institute for Research on Aging, Gladstone Institutes, UC Berkeley, Palo Alto’s Arc Institute, and UC Berkeley’s Center for the Advanced Study of Aging Services, reflecting both promise and remaining hurdles, such as the need for larger datasets and cross-tissue validation.