From Aging to AI and Beyond: A Conversation With Eric Topol

So let me start with an obvious question.

You're a cardiologist.

You've spent the last decade-plus writing especially about data and machine learning, although with other areas of medicine as well.

Why aging?

Yeah.

Well, I think that's the next big frontier, and I think, Roy, that when we look back, we'll say that the biggest contribution of AI was enabling prevention of major diseases, which we really haven't done to any substantial extent.

So that's what I'm really excited about, and that's what prompted me to write "SuperAgers."

And one of the things I thought about as I was reading the book is that in my training, probably in most of our training, we were taught to emphasize diet, exercise, sleep.

These are obviously important topics in the book.

And the more excited we get about Fitbits and Oura Rings and Whoops and Apple Watches, they'll basically point us back in that direction.

So for someone who's a little bit skeptical and says, "Yeah, we know diet, exercise, sleep," what's different now?

Oh, lots different, mainly because we have all these influencers hawking supplements and peptides, and it's a circus of pseudoscience out there.

And we gotta get regrounded with what we know.

And lifestyle factors are a big part.

They're not the only part.

I mean, you can do everything right in that department, and you still could get serious age-related diseases.

But the other thing that brings this to the fore is that there are now many different companies pursuing reversal of aging, and billions of dollars are invested in this.

And that, [chuckles] I hope someday will be a reality, but right now there's another path that we're not using, which is just preventing age-related diseases.

That would be much more attainable, of lesser risk, much lower cost.

So that's what I'm really trying to push forward.

So let me start with an obvious question.

You're a cardiologist.

You've spent the last decade-plus writing especially about data and machine learning, although with other areas of medicine as well.

Why aging?

Yeah.

Well, I think that's the next big frontier, and I think, Roy, that when we look back, we'll say that the biggest contribution of AI was enabling prevention of major diseases, which we really haven't done to any substantial extent.

So that's what I'm really excited about, and that's what prompted me to write "SuperAgers."

And one of the things I thought about as I was reading the book is that in my training, probably in most of our training, we were taught to emphasize diet, exercise, sleep.

These are obviously important topics in the book.

And the more excited we get about Fitbits and Oura Rings and Whoops and Apple Watches, they'll basically point us back in that direction.

So for someone who's a little bit skeptical and says, "Yeah, we know diet, exercise, sleep," what's different now?

Oh, lots different, mainly because we have all these influencers hawking supplements and peptides, and it's a circus of pseudoscience out there.

And we gotta get regrounded with what we know.

And lifestyle factors are a big part.

They're not the only part.

I mean, you can do everything right in that department, and you still could get serious age-related diseases.

But the other thing that brings this to the fore is that there are now many different companies pursuing reversal of aging, and billions of dollars are invested in this.

And that, [chuckles] I hope someday will be a reality, but right now there's another path that we're not using, which is just preventing age-related diseases.

That would be much more attainable, of lesser risk, much lower cost.

So that's what I'm really trying to push forward.