Following Google’s Thursday announcement that it’s rebranding the Fitbit app as Google Health, it has also upgraded its Google Health Coach. Previously called the Personal Health Coach, Fitbit’s AI-powered coach was available only in public preview for early testing and feedback and had started offering more of its health features to free subscribers.
Google Health Coach will remain available to former US Android and iOS Fitbit Premium subscribers, and they’ll pay the original price of $10 per month or $80 per year. New and returning subscribers will be charged $10 per month or $100 per year.
Powered by Gemini AI, Google’s all-in-one AI wellness coach was designed to personalize your workouts and health goals. With all your data in one place, Coach analyzes and adapts your fitness plan based on your sleep and other health metrics to create custom workouts.
“The experience is designed around the fundamental belief that effective coaching is built on a foundation of true understanding and appreciation for your personal goals,” a Google spokesperson told CNET.
Google Health Coach will serve as a hub where you can ask questions and gain insights about your medical records, medications, lab results and health and fitness data. Access to this information allows the AI coach to provide a more personalized experience for the subscriber, but experts say that you should always think twice before uploading your medical records to an AI tool.
Google’s spokesperson said the coach is designed as a supportive tool with an understanding of its limitations. “A core feature of the coach’s design is to remind users to consult with a healthcare professional for any medical needs, including medical advice, diagnosis or treatment,” the spokesperson said.
According to Google, to establish its Health Coach, it gathered feedback from thousands of subscribers through various studies and organized a consumer health advisory panel of experts who provided feedback on the development of the AI feature. Additionally, the company says it used the safety, helpfulness, accuracy, relevance and personalization principle-based framework to make sure Google Health Coach is accurate, relevant and safe.
Google’s Coach will be available 24/7, and you can ask it questions at any time based on your own data. Questions you can ask include whether you should adjust your training schedule for upcoming travel or to work around an injury.
Google said Coach’s responses are rooted in personalized guidance using your health data and evidence-based recommendations. Google Health Coach remembers any prompts you’ve asked it and the adaptations it’s made to your training plan. As a result, it can track trends in your health data to help you better understand them and how they could affect your performance. This is especially relevant when it comes to sleep.
If sleep is a sore point for you, Google Health Coach creates an action plan with its advanced sleep-tracking learning model and your sleep data.
For those looking to improve their eating habits, you can log your nutrition with Google’s Coach by telling it about your meal or uploading photos. Because nutrition science varies from person to person and is always evolving, Google relies on a multi-layered approach and works with experts in the field.
“We actively recruit a pool of external registered dietitians, alongside our internal nutrition science clinical specialists, to evaluate the AI responses,” Google’s spokesperson said.
For Google Health members hesitant to share too much of their information, subscribers will have control over the features they can disable, such as the AI coach or health data they don’t want to share. Subscribers can also delete their Google Health account with a 30-day grace period if they change their mind.
