Commentary: Your iPhone will soon be able to track your mental health with iOS 17. Is that a good thing?

THE APPLE IDEAL VERSION OF MYSELF

Instead of just measuring physical fitness (tracking workouts, counting calories), the iPhone and Apple Watch can be holistic measures of me as a person. They can define not only my active life but also my mental life. I can scroll through an Apple-branded definition of who I am. Eventually, I can become the Apple ideal version of myself.

On the surface, it is helpful to see that I often rate days more highly when I’m active and sleep enough (although it doesn’t take AI to know that). However, as a researcher I know that there’s a limit to what data can tell us, based on the measurements we use and our biases as interpreters.

I wonder how the average Apple user will interpret this data, and whether they will start shaping their lives to arrive at graphs that look desirable.

The late philosopher Ian Hacking describes a looping effect between people and the labels they’re given. Looping effects are prominent in the algorithm-driven software we use. Researchers have found people’s TikTok feeds become reflections of their self-concept as they begin to trust the insights AI draws from the feedback they’ve given.

However, TikTok algorithms are not blank slates for self-concept creation. They’re designed to put people into marketing categories to sell them to advertisers.

Apple isn’t trying to sell your data; its privacy policy states, “Apple does not share personal data with third parties for their own marketing purposes.” But its health app reflects its corporate mandates and the world it wants to create.

In an interview with Time, Apple CEO Tim Cook said, “Apple’s largest contribution to mankind will be in improving people’s health and well-being.”

Apple is a company of ideals. Compared to traditional computer marketing, which highlights performance specs, Apple pioneered selling computers by advertising who a user can be with a Mac. This was the purpose behind their Think Different campaign.

Even when Apple does discuss technical details of computer performance, their use of flashy visuals and vague language makes it difficult to accurately assess their products against competitors.

The messaging is clear: An Apple user is not just someone who owns a piece of tech, but someone who is cool, creative, colourful and individualistic. Now they can be healthy and well-adjusted, too.

But corporate mandates can be hollow because at their core they exist to increase profits. Apple’s success as a company comes from its ability to own the consumer.

With an airtight ecosystem, users become dependent on Apple for all their digital needs. By integrating health into that ecosystem, those users may be dependent on Apple for their well-being too.

I’m not sure what happens when people incorporate their Apple self into their self-concept, but it might make them better consumers and more productive employees. Ultimately, this is the goal of corporate mental health.

Just as spa days and five-minute yoga breaks can only go so far in improving mental health, it’s not clear that iOS 17 is the medical revolution Apple hopes it will be.

Owen Chevalier is PhD Student, Philosophy Department, Western University. This commentary first appeared in The Conversation.