In a notable stride for artificial intelligence, Danish researchers claim they can predict significant life events, including personality traits and mortality, using advanced transformer models similar to those used in language processing, such as ChatGPT.

The team from the Technical University of Denmark, led by Professor Sune Lehmann, unveiled their model, “life2vec,” which draws on extensive data from 6 million individuals, incorporating health, education, income, occupation, and other life-event data from national registers. The study, published in Nature Computational Science, suggests that these transformer models can offer a quantitative understanding of human behavior.

The life2vec model surpasses other statistical models by at least 11 percent, demonstrating its capability to forecast the likelihood of individuals aged 35–65 surviving the four years after January 1, 2016.

While the researchers highlight the exciting possibilities this approach opens in the social and health sciences, they also emphasize the need for caution and ethical considerations. Privacy, data sensitivity, and bias are critical concerns that must be addressed before deploying such AI models in real-world applications.

Professor Sune Lehmann notes, “What’s exciting is to consider human life as a long sequence of events, similar to how a sentence in a language consists of a series of words.”

However, the ethical implications of the life2vec model prompt discussions about protecting sensitive data and ensuring privacy. The model raises questions about the potential impact on individuals’ lives, such as predicting the risk of contracting diseases or other preventable life events.

Lehmann asserts that these ethical challenges should be part of a broader democratic conversation, acknowledging the current use of similar technologies by tech companies to track behavior, profile individuals, and predict actions.

While the life2vec model holds promise for advancing our understanding of human behavior and life outcomes, the study underscores the importance of a balanced and ethical approach to ensure that the benefits of AI are realized without compromising individual rights and privacy. As AI continues to evolve, the responsible and ethical development and deployment of such models become integral to their acceptance and integration into various aspects of society.