My watch says I’m 34, but AI knows when I’ll die

Here’s an interesting piece of AI research:

A three-dimensional convolutional neural network (3D-CNN) tool can analyze magnetic resonance imaging scans from a patient and track brain changes over time.

In short, boffins can now measure the pace of aging using AI.

These morbid death clocks aren’t new, but they’ll only become more accurate with AI involved. It's unsettling when you think about this use case for our future robot overlords.

It won’t be long before AI can tell my doctor the exact date of my departure. That’s not information I’d want easily accessible on my phone or AI tool.

My watch, on the other hand, helps me stay healthy. I wear a Garmin Fenix, and it tells me I’ve got the biological age of a 34-year-old. I take perverse pride in that number, as I’m 43.

I’m all for data and facts encouraging good habits like strength training, yoga, and running. That number on my Garmin watch looks backward rather than forward. I can respond to that.

Imagine checking your phone one morning and seeing a countdown to your final day. That cold dread is exactly why I’ve chosen to use AI as my creative partner instead of my fortune teller. I wouldn’t use any AI app or tool that peers into the future and tell me how much time I’ve left. That kind of output would turn me into a quivering, procrastinating ball.

I’m sharing this insight because it’s transformed how I use AI tools in my business—from information consumption to creation acceleration.

Consuming too much information, even from Claude and ChatGPT, can spark a bout of procrastination.

When AI provides too much information (especially existential information like death predictions), it creates an anxiety loop: information → anxiety → procrastination → seeking more information → deeper anxiety.

Breaking this cycle requires redirecting AI toward creation rather than prediction. Far better to take info from AI and use it to create something meaningful than turn it into the ultimate doom scroll.

I’d rather use Claude, GPT, and other LLMs to spark my creativity than extinguish it. These days, I’ll develop an idea for a piece of content, an offer, or a creative project and use AI to help me plan and turn my idea into reality.

If you need help sparking your creativity with AI (and not peering into the abyss), my premium newsletter PromptWritingStudio is open. This approach isn’t for creators who want AI to do all their thinking or looking for shortcuts without putting in their unique human perspective.

I share my best prompts and techniques for using tools like ChatGPT and Claude with creators several times a week. It costs $25 per month. Dozens of creators have already signed up and are using the templates inside for their businesses. If you’re ready to act, check this out.