Apple is making another sharp move in artificial intelligence. This time, it’s planning a major boost by an update to the health apps, calling it project Mulberry.
According to a report by Bloomberg, the application will get an “AI Doctor” feature to get health advice. Apple CEO Tim Cook said in 2019, “If you look back in the future, Apple’s greatest contribution to mankind will be health.”
The report further says, “the app will get an AI powered health coach that can analyse health data like a real doctor”.
According to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, while Apple is still years away from adding a non-invasive glucose monitor to the Apple Watch, its health team is pushing ahead with AI-powered features.
Sumbul Desai, who leads Apple’s health division, is in the charge of the project. COO Jeff Wiliams is also involved.
Gurman says that app development is moving fast. The updated Health app can launch with iOS 19.4, which will be announced at Worldwide Developers Conference 2025 in June. The final version should roll out with the iPhone 17 in September.
Claimed to be, the new health app will take data from all of a user’s devices like iPhone, apple watch, earbuds and other apple products. On the basis of its readings, AI will use this information to give personalised health tips and recommendations.
As per reports, Apple is training its AI using data from in-house doctors and plans to bring in outside experts. The company is also setting up a facility near Oakland, California, for doctors to create video content. Apple is even searching for a charismatic doctor to be the face of its new Health app.
Apple has been slow with artificial intelligence. The other rivals Google and Samsung have already released powerful AI features. Apple introduced “Apple Intelligence” with iOS 18 but progress has been uneven. Many features that were delayed when the iPhone 16 launched have been released in stages since then.
Even Apple’s AI powered summary features did not go well. Introduced in the iOS 18.3 beta, the feature faced backlash for being inaccurate. The BBC and other news outlets called it out. The BBC pointed out a mistake in Apple’s AI news summaries.
A notification wrongly said that Luigi Mangione, a suspect in the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, had shot himself. However, in reality, Mangione was alive and in custody. In response, Apple pulled AI-generated summaries from news and entertainment apps.
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