AI MAKES A PLAY FOR WELLNESS
Imagine this: maybe Terminator got it wrong and Skynet wasn’t trying to take over the world but was just looking out for humanity’s best interests. Along that line of thought, a whole crop of new apps that make use of artificial intelligence to help us feel better about ourselves have recently popped up. This is a new twist on the relationship, as explored in sci-fi narratives, between man and programmable machine intelligence.
For our minds
There is Reflectly app, which calls itself your “new personal mindfulness companion”. It’s not a blonde 20-something yogi from California but a diary laced with AI tech that gently walks you through a positive “journalling” process.
It also asks you how your day was on a sliding scale and what contributed to your mood, for example food, family, love or friends. It even asks you questions like “If no one could judge you, what would you have done differently on that day?” It’s practically a tiny pocket therapist.
Depending on what the AI reads in your entries it sends you an audio file of a three-minute message from “Maxie” to encourage positive thoughts and help you work through any difficulties you may be having.
For our bodies
There is Kaia Perfect Squat Challenge, a fitness app which, through motion detection and AI, reads your body to make sure that you are exercising optimally.
It’s no secret that people who gym on their own often don’t know what they’re doing and so may not see the results they’re looking for, or worse, injure themselves. Kaia wants to curb that. By monitoring key points on your body — shoulders, hips, elbows, knees and ankles — the AI tracks your body curvature in real time and assesses whether you are doing the exercise correctly. If not, the app offer constructive audio feedback immediately. Although it is only monitoring squats for now, it’s only a matter of time before the AI learns new things.
Even more fun for Fortnite addicts
Fortnite Season 5 starts now. A new chance to battle for coveted league top spots has finally launched and with it comes a Viking ship, a desert outpost and a whole bunch of ancient statues that will change the island landscape (and sniping positions.) But I’m most excited about the all new all-terrain kart, basically a golf kart on steroids. It makes seeing the new, fun additions to the island easier and opens up the gameplay to new levels of entertainment and anarchy. This new update has also unlocked the Nintendo Switch’s gyro-controller ability, making the game even more enjoyable. Take my advice and pay 950 V-Bucks (roughly R125) for your battle pass or 2 800 V-Bucks (R199) for a bundle packing 25 tiers and over 100 rewards worth 25 000 V-Bucks. No wonder Epic Games is clocking $2-million (about R26.5-million) a day from iPhone users alone.