The future
is yours
The future is yours
We’ve been fantasising about the future for what feels like forever. From flying cars to the voice of Hal in 2001 Space Odyssey, human beings have been naturally curious about the impact technology will have on the world around us for decades.
But away from the hype, what does the future really look like? How will we respond to the myriad of lifestyle challenges we face? What is on the horizon – both virtually and IRL – to help us stay happy and healthy? In this article, Chief Editor Adam Saville investigates the rise of artificial intelligence (AI) and what lies ahead for our health and wellbeing, before we explore six mega-trends transforming how we live. Keep scrolling for more.
We’ve been fantasising about the future for what feels like forever. From flying cars to the voice of Hal in 2001 Space Odyssey, human beings have been naturally curious about the impact technology will have on the world around us for decades
But away from the hype, what does the future really look like? How will we respond to the myriad of lifestyle challenges we face? What is on the horizon – both virtually and in real life – to help us stay happy and healthy? In this article, Chief Editor, Adam Saville, investigates the rise of artificial intelligence (AI) and what lies ahead for our health and wellbeing. We also explore six mega-trends transforming how we live. Scroll to find out more.
Artificial intelligence
Friend or foe?
Fears about a robot uprising aside, technology is being used as a force for good 2023 was the year that artificial intelligence went viral. Bringing with it, not just human-like interactions with a computer, but a media dose of mass hysteria.
What has since become clear, as we’ve become more familiar with AI, is that the dawn of 'generative AI’ has its uses, especially when it comes to our health.
“AI is a new way for us to interact with technology,” explains Umang Patel, Chief Clinical Information Officer at Microsoft. “That might be how we chat with it through chatbots, but also how we’re going to use data to enhance our ability to be more productive.” Research suggests1 AI will generate hundreds of billions of dollars-worth of cost savings in healthcare in the US alone.
Some efficiencies might not be as exciting as others. These might include administrational perks, like automated GP notes.
However, others involving medical advancements and everyday health tools have the potential to be truly ground-breaking on a personal level.
What else will the future bring? Scroll down...
“It will give us a whole new care force in healthcare, which will deal with increasing demand”
- Dr Umang Patel
The future is… more time
Umang claims AI will allow for more time for us to enjoy our lives. Tools such as Chat GPT and Autopilot, he predicts, will free up eight hours of our working life a week.
“I can’t wait for us to use that time to look after our friends, families, neighbours; to be able to make sure our parents are able to take the right medicines and attend the right appointments.
"It will give us a whole new care force in healthcare, which will deal with increasing demand.”
More free time, combined with smarter use of data, can be harnessed to “nudge people towards different choices,” he adds.
“Rather than telling everyone to eat less and exercise, we can be a lot more nuanced about how we engage with people.”
The future is… personalised
Dr Katie Tryon, Director of Health Strategy for Vitality, agrees that personalisation – through machine-learning algorithms – is the future of wellbeing, because it offers the key to unlocking sustainable, long-term behaviour change for the better.
Especially as obesity is still on the rise2 and nine million people are predicted to be living in poor health by 20403. The UK is going to need all the help we can get when it comes to making positive lifestyle choices – enter AI.
“We know that making healthy decisions is not easy [more on page 9],” explains Dr Katie. “But these tools can help make looking after our health more engaging, through truly personalised recommendations that are tailored to an individual’s needs in real-time, and make them more likely to take positive action.”
The future is… free
According to neuroscientist Dr Julia Jones “just telling someone to move more and eat better does not produce behaviour change.”
With decades of experience in the wellness space, her view is that anything that requires effort or costs money – even with the best of intentions – will not effectively form healthy habits. And this traces back to our ancestry.
“We do not have the evolutionary circuits to make us eat healthily or do physical activity over a long enough timeframe, because these do not have the same reward circuits attached to them as primal instincts, such as mating or going out to find food.”
Instead, rather than trying to make transformational lifestyle changes that require time and financial investment, she proposes that “the future of wellbeing is free”.
She points to habit tweaks across three areas that cost nothing or very little: breathing patterns to balance our physiology, small changes to what we eat and going outside to set our circadian rhythm.
With a wellness industry worth trillions globally4, it’s somewhat ironic that going back to our roots might just be the way forward. “The future of health needs to look completely different to what we’ve been doing in recent times,” says Dr Julia.
“We’re going to come to understand the importance of community and kindness in the future”
The future is… kind
Author Dr David Hamilton agrees that going backwards to our natural origins will help the human race prosper. “Known as ‘Blue Zones’, there are regions of the world that have the highest percentage of the population that live longer than 100 years old,” he explains.
“They also have the longest ‘healthspan’ – the number of those years that are healthy.”
These places, which include Okinawa in Japan, the mountainous highlands of Sardinia and the Nicoya Peninsula in Costa Rica – to name a few – share a number of things in common.
“Firstly, they have one of the most plant-based diets,” Dr David explains. “Instead of snacking on biscuits, crisps and fizzy drinks, they’ll eat nuts or pieces of fruit. They also walk a lot.”
Another aspect that stands out is how much they socialise.
“We’re going to come to understand the importance of community and kindness in the future,” he adds, acknowledging the amount of conflict in the world today.
His view is that compassion can be built more deeply into the very fabric of society. Much like how mindfulness centres our psychology in relation to the world around us, we can do the same with how we interact with others – a practice he’s coined ‘kindfulness’.
This, he believes, can – and probably should – be incorporated into technology platforms, social media, virtual reality and gaming – “integrated as little tweaks and nudges” – to benefit not just those around us, but ourselves too.
Ultimately, he has hope for the future. “Once we understand there’s mental and physiological benefits to being kind and that it benefits all of us – including ourselves – it’s something we will just do.”
Six mega-trends that will transform how we live...
Watch the video and click to read more below.
Care for everyday needs
If you are a Vitality health insurance member, you can use Care Hub to see a Vitality GP, get approval for care and book a virtual or in-person consultant appointment, as well as access everything you need to know about your health plan.
You can also refer yourself for physio and mental health support, plus a range of other support services that put you at the centre of your healthcare journey.
Find Care Hub in Member Zone, or read more about our healthcare services on the My Vitality section on page 16.
1 McKinsey & Co, 2023
2 UK government, Jan 2023
3 Health Foundation, 2023
4 Global Wellness Institute, 2021
5 NHS England Reporting, May 2023
6 Vitality Health Claims Insights Report 2023
7 World Economic Forum, 2022
8 World Economic Forum, 2022
9 Vitality Health Claims Insights Report 2023
10 YouGov, 2023
11 Statista, May 2023
12 World Health Organisation, 2022
13 Health Foundation, 2023
