Beyond smart watches and rings, artificial intelligence is being used to make self-testing for major diseases more readily available — from headsets that detect early signs of Alzheimer’s to an iris-scanning app that helps spot cancer.”The reason preventive medicine doesn’t work right now is because you don’t want to go to the doctor all the time to get things tested,” says Ramses Alcaide, co-founder and CEO of startup Neurable.”But what about if you knew when you needed to go to the doctor?”Connected rings, bracelets and watches — which were everywhere at last week’s Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas — can already monitor heart rate, blood pressure and glucose levels, with varying degrees of accuracy.These gadgets are in high demand from consumers. A recent study published by OpenAI showed that more than 200 million internet users check ChatGPT every week for information on health topics.On Wednesday, OpenAI even launched a chatbot that can draw on a user’s medical records and other data collected by wearable devices, with their consent, to inform its responses.Using electroencephalogram (EEG) technology, Neurable has developed a headset that records and deciphers brain activity.The linked app compares data with the user’s medical history to check for any deviation, a possible sign of a problem, said Alcaide.”Apple Watch can pick up Parkinson’s, but it can only pick it up once you have a tremor,” Alcaide said. “Your brain has been fighting that Parkinson’s for over 10 years.”With EEG technology, “you can pick these things up before you actually see physical symptoms of them. And this is just one example.”- Detection before symptoms -Some people have reservations about the capabilities of such devices. “I don’t think that wearable EEG devices are reliable enough,” said Anna Wexler, a University of Pennsylvania professor who studies consumer detection products, although she acknowledges that “AI has expanded the possibilities of these devices.”While Neurable’s product cannot provide an actual diagnosis, it does offer a warning. It can also detect signs of depression and early development of Alzheimer’s disease.Neurable is working with the Ukrainian military to evaluate the mental health of soldiers on the front lines of the war with Russia, as well as former prisoners of war, in order to detect post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).French startup NAOX meanwhile has developed EEG earbuds linked to a small box that can help patients with epilepsy.Rather than detect seizures, which are “very rare,” the device recognizes “spikes” — quick, abnormal electrical shocks in the brain that are “much more difficult to see,” said NAOX’s chief of innovation Marc Vaillaud, a doctor by training.NAOX’s device — which has been cleared by the US Food and Drug Administration — is designed to be worn at night, to track several hours of data at a time.The company is working with the Rothschild and Lariboisiere hospitals in Paris to try to better understand the links between these brain “spikes” and Alzheimer’s disease, which have been raised in scientific papers.Advances in AI and technology in general have paved the way for the miniaturization of cheaper detection devices — a far cry from the heavy machinery once seen in medical offices and hospitals.IriHealth is preparing to launch, for only about $50, a small smartphone extension that would scan a user’s iris.The gadget relies on iridology, a technique by which iris colors and markings are believed to reveal information about a person’s health, but which is generally considered scientifically unreliable.But the founders of IriHealth — a spin-off of biometrics specialist IriTech — are convinced that their device can be effective in detecting anomalies in the colon, and potentially the lungs or the liver.Company spokesman Tommy Phan said IriHealth had found its device to be 81 percent accurate among patients who already have been diagnosed with colon cancer.

Former Federal Reserve chiefs on Monday sharply criticized a US criminal probe into current chair Jerome Powell, calling it an “unprecedented attempt” to undermine the central bank’s independence.Two Republican senators joined in rebuking the Trump administration and questioned the credibility of the Department of Justice (DOJ) in targeting Powell, whom the US president has long sought to replace in a push for lower interest rates.On Sunday, Powell revealed that the Fed received grand jury subpoenas and threats of a criminal indictment relating to Senate testimony he gave in June.The issue at hand was a $2.5 billion renovation of the Fed’s headquarters. Last year, President Donald Trump floated the possibility of firing Powell over cost overruns for the historic buildings’ facelift.On Monday, ex-Fed chiefs Ben Bernanke, Alan Greenspan and Janet Yellen joined other former economic leaders in slamming the DOJ’s probe.In a joint statement, they called it “an unprecedented attempt to use prosecutorial attacks” to undermine the Fed’s independence.”This is how monetary policy is made in emerging markets with weak institutions, with highly negative consequences for inflation and the functioning of their economies more broadly,” the statement added. “It has no place in the United States.”In an extraordinary statement on Sunday, Powell himself rebuked the administration, dismissing the building renovation and his testimony before Congress as “pretexts.””The threat of criminal charges is a consequence of the Federal Reserve setting interest rates based on our best assessment of what will serve the public, rather than following the preferences of the president,” he said.He vowed to carry out his duties “without political fear or favor.”Separately, New York Fed President John Williams said that historic precedent of political influence on monetary policy typically leads to “unfortunate” outcomes like inflation.- Stocks hit records -Despite worries spurred by the probe, US stock indices closed at records. “The fact that market measures of inflation expectations have remained calm indicates that markets are brushing off the investigation as having little, if any, impact on Fed independence,” said Bernard Yaros, lead US economist at Oxford Economics.The independent Fed has a dual mandate to keep prices stable and unemployment low. Its main tool is setting a benchmark interest rate that influences the price of US Treasury bonds and borrowing costs.Trump has regularly slammed Powell, calling him a “numbskull” and “moron” for the Fed’s policy decisions and not cutting borrowing costs more sharply.On Monday, White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt told Fox News that Powell “has proven he’s not very good at his job.””As to whether he’s a criminal, that’s an answer the Department of Justice is going to have to find,” she said.- Republican pushback -The DOJ’s probe has drawn criticism from both sides of the political aisle.Republican Thom Tillis, who sits on the Senate Banking Committee, vowed Sunday to oppose the confirmation of any Fed nominee, including for the next Fed chief, until the legal matter is “fully resolved.””It is now the independence and credibility of the Department of Justice that are in question,” he said.Another Republican senator, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, supported Tillis’ move, calling the investigation “nothing more than an attempt at coercion.”Top Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer earlier dubbed the probe an assault on the Fed’s independence.David Wessel, a senior fellow at Washington think tank the Brookings Institution warned of serious consequences if the Fed came under Trump’s control.Elected politicians could be inclined to set interest rates low to boost the economy ahead of elections, for instance.If Trump succeeds in influencing the Fed, the US economy could see “more inflation, and the willingness of global investors to lend money to the Treasury will diminish somewhat,” Wessel told AFP.Trump nominated Powell as Fed chair during his first presidency. Powell’s term as chair ends in May, but he could stay on the Fed’s board until 2028.Last year, Trump separately attempted to fire Fed Governor Lisa Cook over mortgage fraud allegations.

The US Supreme Court on Tuesday wades into the hot-button issue of transgender athletes in girls’ and women’s sports.The conservative-dominated court is to hear challenges to state laws in Idaho and West Virginia banning transgender athletes from female competition.More than two dozen US states have passed laws in recent years barring athletes who were assigned as male at birth from taking part in girls’ or women’s sports.The Idaho case to be heard by the nine justices stems from the Republican-led state’s 2020 “Fairness in Women’s Sports Act.”The act was challenged by a transgender athlete at an Idaho university, and lower courts ruled that it violates the equal protection clause of the US Constitution.West Virginia’s 2021 Save Women’s Sports Act was challenged by a middle school student who was not allowed to compete for the girls’ track team.An appeals court ruled that the ban amounted to discrimination on the basis of sex and violated Title IX, the federal civil rights law which prohibits sex-based discrimination in educational programs.Last February, President Donald Trump issued an executive order aimed at banning transgender athletes from girls’ and women’s sports after campaigning for the White House on the issue.”From now on women’s sports will be only for women,” Trump said. “With this executive order the war on women’s sports is over.”The executive order allows federal agencies to deny funding to schools that allow transgender athletes to compete on girls’ or women’s teams.- UPenn case a lightning rod -University of Pennsylvania swimmer Lia Thomas became a lightning rod in the debate over transgender athletes in women’s sports after competing in female collegiate meets in 2022. Critics and some fellow swimmers said Thomas, who had earlier swum on UPenn’s men’s team, should not have been allowed to compete against women due to an unfair physiological advantage.UPenn eventually agreed to ban transgender athletes from its women’s sports teams, settling a federal civil rights complaint stemming from the furor around Thomas.The move followed an investigation by the Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights which found the university had violated Title IX by allowing Thomas to compete in women’s competitions.Conservatives outnumber liberals six to three on the Supreme Court, and the justices weighed in on two high-profile transgender cases last year.They upheld a Tennessee state law banning gender-affirming medical treatment for transgender minors and backed a move by Trump to have transgender troops dismissed from the military.The Supreme Court is expected to rule in June or early July.