The Death Algorithm — Will Google Influence Your Lifespan?

Nikki Williams

July 17, 2018

https://www.digitalethics.org/essays/death-algorithm-will-google-influence-your-lifespan

"The Reaper App"

First Impression:

People like me always have the question "When do we die?". Upon reading the title firsthand, I thought it was a joke or a myth---it's theoretically impossible to know when or how are you going to die. 

Quote: 

"While Google’s algorithm might be the acme of technical wizardry, able to sift through billions of infinitesimal and seemingly irrelevant data bits to arrive at what many see as an incredibly on-point calculation, the one thing that it cannot possibly calculate is the depth of the human spirit and the indomitable will to live."

Reflection Proper:

When I read this essay, I thought it was a joke firsthand, or rather one of those internet myths --- it's theoretically impossible to know one's time of death or cause of death in the future. But upon reading it further, I wasn't laughing anymore and instead I was shocked beyond the range for rational thought. It turns out that Google has created somewhat of a new AI algorithm which can predict the outcome of one's next hospital visit (95% sure, by the way, in this stage), or rather the possibility of one's death. According to the essay, the algorithm has the following features: prediction of one's longevity after hospitalization, calculation of probable hospitalization length, and knowing the chances of being re-hospitalized upon after a few hours or days of release. It's insane, really, to know such an invention existed, and it did make perfect strange sense of the capability of the algorithm itself --- since Google has made a lot of inventions for us that provided them accessibility to many data points for every individual, it can use a lot of information such as age and vital statistics, and more information that is not just limited into online medical records in order for the algorithm to bring fruit to success. However, in my opinion, even though the algorithm itself could bring a great contribution to medical providers and establishments such as hospitals and medical centers in order to "apply life-saving methods more quickly", the algorithm, like any other invention, has eventually, its downsides. I mean, let's face facts though --- knowing the chances of re-hospitalization and knowing the length of one's stay in a hospital ---it basically serves as an open door to an opportunity to drain one's money and accounts just to save one's lives. In other words, the poorer the predicted outcome for a patient, the higher the chances of encouragement of poor, strapped-for-cash, bottom-line medical facilities to get hold of and save expensive life-extending measures for someone with a greater chance of living. Plus, what the algorithm does is somewhat close to privacy breach and invasion, and possibly could serve as an open door for hackers to breach in further and perform identity theft and anything else they can think of with all the information they get hold of. In conclusion though, the decision is still ours to make, and not for a machine to decide, on how and when we are going to die, and frankly, there's one thing that technology can't understand, especially the algorithm, and as the article says: "the depth of the human spirit and the indomitable will to live."

5 Things Learned From Article: 

1. I learned about Google's predictive "death algorithm" and its features.

2. I learned that even though Google's death algorithm has its good features, it can also have nasty side-effects.

3. I learned that all companies that are involved in AI marketability only have one thing in mind regardless of what invention they create for the populace: money.

4. I learned that Google is possibly doing a lot of privacy invasion and breaches when it comes to their numerous contributions like Google Drive and such . 

5. I learned that technology, even though it may do what we can do and more, only has one thing it can possibly understand or calculate: the human spirit and the will to live.

5 Integrative Questions:

1. Why do all companies involved in AI only have money on their heads when it comes to goals?

2. What's your opinion on Google's algorithm?

3. Do you believe in phenomenons or such things like voodoo or medical hexing?

4. How can you provide a solution to AI companies?

5. Do you want to let a machine decide for you when or how you are going to die or how to avoid such things?