Life2Vec: AI’s New 78% Accurate Lifespan Prediction Tool

In a groundbreaking development, the professor of network and complex systems from the Technical University of Denmark and co-authors introduced an AI death calculator, life2vec, claiming an accuracy rate of 78% in predicting when an individual will die. Sune Lehmann, the lead author of the December 2023 study, explained that they leverage transformer models, similar to those used in ChatGPT, to represent each person’s life as a sequence of events.

The life2vec algorithm examines specific details of an individual’s life, such as income, profession, residence, and health history, to compute life expectancy. Lehmann likens human lives to language, where events follow each other like words in a sentence. The researcher’s group examined a heterogeneous subject population of 6 million Danish people who varied in sex and age between 2008 and 2020. The analysts used life2vec to discover which of the subjects would likely live for at least four years beyond January 1, 2016. 

The team fed Life2Vec with diverse information about study participants, ranging from salary increases to health-related events, assigning digital tokens to each piece of data. Life2Vec almost perfectly predicted who would die by 2020, more than three-quarters of the time. Notably, factors like gender, mental health diagnosis, profession type, income, and leadership roles were identified as contributors to life expectancy.

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Despite the potential applications of life2vec, Lehmann emphasizes that study participants were not informed of their death predictions, deeming it irresponsible. The researchers aim to share more details of their results while safeguarding the privacy of those involved in the research. Lehmann envisions the model contributing valuable insights into factors that may positively influence longevity, though he acknowledges the need for cautious exploration of such applications.

Importantly, Life2Vec is currently unavailable to the general public or corporations. Lehmann anticipates that, if ever rolled out for mainstream use, artificial intelligence (AI) may not be used to inform specific individuals in contexts like insurance policies or hiring decisions. The researchers emphasize responsible use and protection of privacy as they explore the potential applications of this innovative AI technology.

The AI death calculator raises intriguing possibilities for understanding life expectancy factors but prompts ethical considerations regarding privacy and responsible use in various domains.

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