AI tool scans faces to predict biological age and cancer survival

AI tool scans faces to predict biological age and cancer survival

Mass General Brigham’s FaceAge outperformed doctors in some calculations

A simple selfie could hold hidden clues to one’s biological age — and even how long they’ll live. (iStock)

Mass General Brigham developed a deep-learning algorithm called FaceAge, which generates predictions of the subject’s biological age from a photo. (Mass General Brigham)

To test the tool’s accuracy, the researchers used it to analyze photos of 6,196 cancer patients taken before radiotherapy treatment. (iStock)

Among the people with cancer, the tool generated a higher biological age that was about five years higher than their chronological age. (iStock)

"AI can enhance our care — but it cannot replace the empathy, context and humanity that define medicine." (iStock)