Samsung aims to help you make more sense of health data with a new AI-powered assistant

Samsung is getting into the AI-powered personal health assistant game. Just ahead of revealing its latest batch of devices (likely including new smartwatches) at its Galaxy Unpacked event on Wednesday, it's beginning to deploy a tool called Health Assistant. This chatbot, which is fully integrated into Samsung Health, is now available in beta for "eligible US users."

The aim with Health Assistant is to help folks gain a better understanding of what their health data means. It will offer guidance on lifestyle changes that may improve their overall wellbeing. Samsung says the companion can "provide high quality recommendations that have been validated by a team of physicians and certified health coaches on how to proactively track their health." You'll be able to ask the chatbot questions about your health data too.

Health Assistant will be able to pull data from your phone and smart ring as well as a Galaxy Watch. The tool, which is opt-in, can tap into data from Samsung Health's "five core pillars of wellness" (sleep, activity, nutrition, mindfulness and vitals). Among other things, Health Assistant will provide users with info on how each of those pillars has a bearing on the others. 

Samsung claims Health Assistant can help detect signals and patterns a user might not be aware of. However, it won't offer medical advice or suggest treatments, and it can't diagnose health conditions. 

What might set Health Assistant apart from similar offerings from the likes of Whoop and Fitbit is that it ties into the broader Samsung ecosystem. It integrates with the company's personalized data engine, meaning it can tap into information from things like your calendar and even smart home devices. For instance, if you turned off your smart lights late at night, the companion might flag the potential impact of that on your sleep. Further down the line, the Health Assistant will be able to, for instance, suggest breathing exercises before a work meeting.

Samsung told Bloomberg that its other new health features include one that monitors metrics like your heart rate and blood oxygen level while you sleep, and then let you know if there are any significant shifts (Apple Watch has had a similar feature for a couple of years). You'll also be able to view an Energy Score, Heart Health Score and a Fitness Index, which considers factors such as activity data, heart rate and oxygen consumption to provide a picture of your progress.

In addition, the company is working on a platform that might enable physicians to access data from your smartwatch and monitor metrics like blood pressure between your visits to their clinic. This follows Samsung's purchase of Xealth, a company that integrates data from wearables with clinical records.