Most of us have at least one fitness tracker or health application on our smartphones. They can keep tabs on how many steps we take, how many calories we burn, and how many minutes of sleep we get – yet very few apps make changes to our healthy habits. Stanford Medicine has developed a health application called My Heart Counts that seeks to change that.

My Heart Counts has been around since 2015. However, the school recently updated the application with artificial intelligence that encourages users to exercise more. Surprisingly, the artificial intelligence outperformed human experts in suggesting exercises to users during initial tests.

The artificial intelligence behind the My Heart Counts application uses the Transtheoretical Model of exercise to determine a user’s readiness for physical activity. If the user is inactive, the artificial intelligence will offer suggestions to encourage them to exercise. However, if the person is active, it will only offer suggestions to encourage them to continue their routine.

Artificial intelligence doesn’t require users to text back and forth with the application to receive suggestions. Instead, it takes into account information about the user, such as their age, physical capabilities, and the times of day they prefer to be alerted. Using that information, it creates a short message to encourage the user to exercise.

According to the researchers who developed the application, the artificial intelligence’s ability to customize messages for each user is the “secret sauce” of the application. While coaching from humans is available, it is costly and not available to everyone. However, with this application, anyone with a smartphone can receive the same level of personal care.

The developers at Stanford rebuilt the application using a new system called Spezi. This system makes it easier for them to build new features onto the application in the future. They are also exploring how artificial intelligence can assist in other areas of health, such as bone health and the reduction of certain cancers.

Individuals can join the research study and become a “citizen scientist” using the My Heart Counts application. Not only will users gain an understanding of their health and Heart Score, but the researchers will also gain the data needed to promote healthy hearts for all individuals. In an era in which health care is becoming ever more personal, this application is a great example of how technology can achieve that goal.