The growing availability of health-supportive AI technologies offers much to appreciate, but the developments are not without hidden costs or challenges, like these:

It’s a new tech to regulate.

The rapid application of AI in healthcare is already outpacing the regulations meant to ensure its safety and fairness. Federal agencies were designed to regulate static developments (the U.S. Food and Drug Administration regulates drugs and medical ­devices, for example), but they may not have the ­expertise or processes in place to evaluate dynamic technologies like the algorithms that are central to AI.

Algorithms are validated on certain training datasets, but many adapt to new inputs after they’ve been deployed, notes pathologist Taofic Mounajjed, MD. In other words, they’re constantly shape-shifting. “How nimble are the regulatory bodies going to be in evaluating them if they’re continuously evolving?” he asks.

Data can be biased.

AI models are often trained on datasets that represent limited, homogeneous populations. In an article in the journal Science, researchers describe how an AI system widely used in U.S. healthcare underestimated the health needs of Black patients compared with white patients who had similar conditions. The training data was based on healthcare spending rather than actual health status, so it reflected systemic racial disparities in access to care.

Data privacy is difficult to maintain.

AI systems collect vast amounts of personal health data, often from wearables, medical records, and even social media interactions. Users may not fully understand how their data is being used, who has access to it, or whether it’s being shared with third parties.

AI has a substantial environmental impact.

Large-scale AI models require massive computational power, contributing to high energy consumption. And data centers that power AI systems require lots of water for cooling: According to one study, a single ChatGPT prompt for a 100-word email uses the approximate equivalent of a standard bottle of water.

Here’s what happens under the hood after that cold beer or celebratory margarita. First, the alcohol is absorbed through the walls of the stomach and small intestine. The bloodstream carries it to the liver, where an enzyme called alcohol dehydrogenase starts to break it down, producing a byproduct called acetaldehyde. (An excess of this chemical compound is the culprit ­behind hangovers.)

The alcohol and acetaldehyde mixture travels from the liver to the heart and crosses the blood-brain barrier to enter the brain. This gives you a buzz, usually within 10 or 15 minutes of your first sip. Your blood vessels start to expand, possibly making you feel warmer and a little flushed.

Alcohol then activates the calming GABA (gamma aminobutyric acid) system in the brain, which relaxes you and lowers your inhibitions; it also stimulates the release of the feel-good neurotransmitters serotonin and dopamine as well as endorphins, your body’s natural opioids. These chemical rewards all contribute to alcohol’s de-stressing effects — as well as to its addictive allure.

Our environments drive our behavior in ways big and small. Some AI advocates believe we can use it to design our environments to steer us toward healthy choices.

“I think AI will fuel an intersection of industries that create healthier homes, work environments, and health-motivating spaces,” says Pilar Gerasimo, the founding editor of Experience Life.

Some of this is already under way. Smart-lighting systems can adjust throughout the day to support circadian rhythms, improve sleep quality, and enhance focus and productivity. Apps may offer recipes based on your health goals or even the contents of your AI-connected fridge. Wearables set daily activity goals and ping you to suggest a stretch break.

In the future, these nudges could become even more adaptive, integrating with AI-powered home systems to adjust temperature, lighting, and soundscapes using real-time biometric feedback. AI tools could even suggest preventive actions before a migraine or anxiety attack escalates, based on subtle physiological cues. Algorithms might match people who share similar hobbies or interests, facilitating social connection and reducing loneliness.

“We still want human wisdom to rise
in the age of information —
perhaps more information than
we know what to do with.”

Meanwhile, all this integration of AI into our environments raises questions about the balance ­between external guidance and personal agency. Although it can be appealing to outsource some decision-making, the convenience of AI-driven health nudges may come at a cost. “We don’t want to be completely manipulated by external agents,” says Minneapolis-based ­futurist Cecily Sommers. “We want to cultivate our own inner agency for the choices we make.”

Self-direction is like a muscle: It weakens without regular use. Recent research from Carnegie ­Mellon University and Microsoft found that the more confidence people feel in AI, the less likely they are to engage their critical thinking skills as they use AI programs. This is especially concerning given that AI can make mistakes, mislead, and manufacture incorrect information that it presents as fact, known as “hallucinating.”

“We still want human wisdom to rise in the age of information — perhaps more information than we know what to do with,” Sommers says. “If we’re not discerning, we won’t know the difference between what’s valuable and what’s not.”

Several conditions can drive maladaptive changes in your brain’s balance and sensory-processing systems. Specific causes, symptoms, and treatments may differ, but they all share a common thread: Your brain is struggling to recalibrate after a destabilizing event. These five conditions can all correspond to chronic dizziness.

Persistent Postural Perceptual Dizziness (PPPD or Triple-PD)

PPPD typically develops after an illness or injury that affects balance. These include vestibular neuritis (inflammation of the vestibulocochlear nerve of the inner ear), concussion, and benign paroxysmal positional vertigo. It can also be triggered by acute stress, a migraine or panic attack, or a fainting episode.

Research suggests that patients with long COVID may be more susceptible. Functional neurologist J­eremy Schmoe, DC, DACNB, often sees patients with PPPD-like symptoms after they’ve experienced immune stressors, including mold exposure, Lyme disease, and chronic gut infections.

With PPPD, the brain is stuck in a heightened state of vigilance, misinterpreting normal movement and visual input as a threat. You may feel unsteadiness, motion sensitivity, lightheadedness, or nonspinning dizziness. Symptoms often get worse when standing or walking. Visually busy environments, like grocery stores or crowded places, can also be a trigger.

Treatment may include vestibular ­rehabilitation therapy, which is ­designed to help you regain control of gaze stability, physical stability, and balance. Cognitive behavioral therapy can retrain your brain and reduce symptoms. Medication may also be beneficial.

Schmoe often recommends an anti-inflammatory diet to support treatment. “If you’re doing these things and you’re still not feeling well, there could be something underlying going on that’s causing inflammation in the nervous system,” he says.

Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo (BPPV)

BPPV occurs when calcium crystals called otoconia become dislodged from their usual location in your inner ear and move into the semicircular canals that help control balance. When you move your head, the dislodged crystals shift, sending signals to your brain that trigger sudden, intense vertigo. You may also feel nausea, unsteadiness, or a sense that the room is spinning.

BPPV is more common in older adults, people with head injuries, and people with a history of inner-ear infections.

BPPV itself is not chronic: It can be treated using physical therapy techniques, including the Epley maneuver, to return the crystals to the otolith organs in your inner ear. Sometimes it even resolves on its own.

But because it can cause hypervigilance and a sensitization to triggers, BPPV can lead to PPPD. “In that case, it’s not the physical problem that’s making dizziness chronic. It’s because the brain has taken over,” says vestibular audiologist Yonit Arthur, AuD.

Post-Concussion Syndrome (PCS)

Up to 80 percent of mild traumatic brain injuries lead to post-concussion syndrome, which can involve head­aches, brain fog, fatigue, and dizziness. Persistent PCS is diagnosed when post-concussion symptoms persist for more than three months after an initial concussion.

People with PCS may rely more on their vision than their vestibular and proprioceptive systems. Such reliance can overstimulate their nervous system, says Schmoe. “You may also have a sensation called vection, when you feel like you’re moving but you’re not.”

Anyone can develop PCS after a concussion, but it’s more common in those who have had multiple concussions, a history of migraine, or previous neurological conditions. “The concussion research is clear that psychosocial factors, including preexisting anxiety, are major risk factors for people developing chronic symptoms,” adds Arthur.

Recovery is typically nonlinear and takes time. Treatment may include physical therapy, vestibular therapy, cognitive therapy, or life­­style adjustments.

Visually Induced Dizziness (VID)

Rather than a diagnosis itself, VID is a constellation of symptoms caused by dysfunction in the vestibular system and triggered when your brain struggles to process complex visual environments. Sometimes called visual vertigo, VID can be caused by a range of conditions, including head injury, BPPV, and vestibular migraine. It’s often a symptom of PPPD.

The mismatch between what you’re seeing and your body’s sense of movement and balance can make you feel dizzy, lightheaded, or unsteady. It can also cause nausea, headaches, brain fog, and a feeling of being “off” even when you’re sitting still. Common triggers include grocery-store aisles, busy or moving patterns, fluorescent lighting, and scrolling on your phone. Hypervigilance and anxiety perpetuate symptoms.

VID is more common in people with vestibular disorders, like vestibular ­migraine, or a history of concussions. If you are prone to motion sickness or spend extended time on digital screens, you may also be more vulnerable.

Treatment may include vestibular rehabilitation therapy and exposure training. Schmoe has found virtual reality can help desensitize some people.

Vestibular Migraine

Vestibular migraine can cause dizziness symptoms with or without a headache. Rather than reflecting a problem with the vestibular system, it affects the vestibular-associated processing systems in the brain, says Arthur.

Symptoms may include sudden or prolonged dizziness, vertigo, an off-balance feeling, or unsteady walking. You may also have other migraine symptoms, including nausea and vomiting, light sensitivity, and sound sensitivity. Symptoms can last minutes to days and occur with or without pain.

Anyone can suffer vestibular migraine, though people with a history of migraine headaches, motion sensitivity, or inner-ear disorders are most susceptible, says Arthur. It often runs in families and can be triggered by hormonal shifts, bright lights, and disrupted sleep. Stress is a big factor, as well.

Treatment may include vestibular therapy, medication, and migraine-management strategies. “With vestibular migraine, there’s a change in blood flow into the neurological ­circuitry of the brain as well as changes in inflammatory mediators, so people respond well to anti-inflammatory dietary approaches,” says Schmoe.

Unlike many practitioners, Arthur doesn’t recommend migraine diets and trigger diaries, which she has found cause people to focus too much on their symptoms.

“Having a healthy diet overall is important,” she says, “but people don’t need to be sitting around being vigilant. What they need is to stop being as afraid of their symptoms.”

AI is increasingly tailoring health interventions to the individual. “Personalization is the name of the game with AI,” says Pilar Gerasimo, the founding editor of Experience Life and author of The Healthy Deviant: A Rule Breaker’s Guide to Being Healthy in an Unhealthy World. “It can give real-time, personalized feedback, suggestions, and nudges to help you create and fine-tune your nutrition and fitness programs.”

Gerasimo has been watching fitness and healthcare trends come and go for decades, and — with a few caveats — she sees the overall movement toward personalized health supports like this as a net gain.

Trabing points out that personalized fitness AI tools can make it easier to sift through a world of complicated health advice. “Learning how to work out, eat right, balance stress, and more is a lot of work,” he notes. “There is so much content, much of which is contradictory.”

An AI fitness app might help you log your workout information and track your progress over time. It can give you workout recommendations based on your goals and individual capacity, push you to progress, and remind you to rest. An app can also customize workouts based on your preferences, making you more likely to pursue movement that you enjoy.

Still, Trabing doesn’t think that fitness apps, useful as they are, will replace personal trainers or fitness classes any time soon.

“Personal trainers are there to motivate, inspire, and bring an energy to the training experience,” he says. “AI can help to personalize plans for more people, but that doesn’t negate the value of a personal trainer.”

 

“It can give real-time,
personalized feedback, suggestions, and nudges
to help you create and fine-tune
your nutrition and fitness programs.”

 

Many wearable fitness ­devices use AI as well. These tools can monitor heart rate variability (HRV), sleep cycles, blood sugar, hydration, and recovery, among other metrics. More advanced wearables are currently in the works, including some that will track lactate and cholesterol levels or inflammation.

When this biometric data is combined with generative AI tools, like fitness apps that consider your motivations, goals, and preferences, the result might be akin to having a “personal trainer in your pocket,” Gerasimo says. “But AI still can’t replace the ­empathy and intuition of a human being. At present, it can’t read your face or feelings in the same way a caring person can.”

Additionally, wearable data isn’t always reliable, emphasizes fitness and nutrition educator Mike T. Nelson, PhD. This becomes obvious when you use more than one biometric device at a time: “My Oura Ring doesn’t match my Garmin, which doesn’t match my ithlete,” he says. These all capture data on different parts of the body, he explains, and likely rely on different algorithms.

An individual device is useful for tracking general trends (such as stress or activity levels), but trying to cross-reference multiple wearables can lead to confusion. “God forbid I have a client who has three wearable devices,” ­Nelson says. “What a disaster.”

He finds that data is most helpful when it helps drive habit change — such as the Oura Ring’s sleep score inspiring an earlier, more consistent bedtime. “Data is good,” he says. “But it’s not going to replace how you feel. I don’t want my clients to entirely outsource their decisions to a device, because sometimes its recommendations don’t line up with how you feel or what you want to do.”

Adds Gerasimo: “What has helped humans be healthy for millions of years is more or less the same thing. Eat mostly whole foods, move your body, rest, get out in nature, and connect with a supportive community. I don’t think AI is going to change those things anytime soon.”

With one in five American adults experiencing a mental health issue in a given year, demand for care far exceeds available human resources. (Help support your mental health needs by exploring our curated collection of articles at “How to Support Your Mental Health.”)

“Even if we could funnel every single dollar we have for healthcare to mental health, we just don’t have enough providers to see the people who need it,” notes Stevie Chancellor, PhD, in a TEDx Talk. She’s an assistant professor at the University of Minnesota who develops human-centered AI tools for mental health.

Nicholas Jacobson, PhD, is an associate professor in the departments of Biomedical Data Science, Psychiatry, and Computer Science at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth. He helped develop Therabot, a mental health platform that uses generative AI to engage in dynamic conversations based on cognitive behavioral therapy and other evidence-based approaches.

“The goal is to provide things in a way that emulates what therapists provide in their day-to-day settings, but in a digital means,” Jacobson says. He notes that Therabot’s continuous availability is an advantage over human therapists, who may only be able to connect weekly.

“With tools like this, you can interact with it anytime, as long as you have an internet connection,” he says. “That makes it available in folks’ moments of greatest need.”

“The goal is to provide things in a way
that emulates what therapists provide
in their day-to-day settings,
but in a digital means.”

Crucially, Therabot has safeguards in place to prevent some of the harmful outcomes that are possible when people look to resources like ChatGPT for mental health support. (A tragic example involved a man in Belgium who died by suicide after engaging with an AI chatbot that encouraged him to end his life.) Therabot has been tested to eliminate potentially harmful responses and equipped to respond to ­crisis situations.

General-use “companion” bots lack any such safeguards, Jacobson notes, so be cautious in turning to them for mental health support.

Considering the privacy concerns and the potential for manipulation, engaging with AI with too much trust or vulnerability comes with substantial risk. In at least one case, a nonprofit AI-driven suicide-crisis text hotline shared anonymized customer data with its for-profit spin­off to train customer service bots. If company policies don’t expressly prohibit it, information shared with mental health chatbots can be used in targeted advertising.

These types of mental health supports are best used as a complement to a human therapist or therapeutic group, not least because, as scholars of the loneliness epidemic have shown, human-to-human connection is vital for social and emotional health.

“What worries me is that young people grow up being online so much of the time anyway,” notes Jodi Halpern, MD, PhD, a professor of bioethics at the University of California, Berkeley. “Mutually curious, empathetic relationships are the richness of life. If they grow up with bots being the main forms of communication about emotions, this could slip away without people necessarily noticing it.”

If you’ve seen a doctor and your chronic dizziness can’t be explained medically, check out the American Institute of Balance and the Vestibular Disorders ­Association to find a vestibular therapist or functional neurologist either near you or who offers telehealth services.

Meanwhile, there are several ways you can support your own healing, including with these expert recommendations:

1. Learn more. “The No. 1 thing you can do once you’ve got medical clearance is educate yourself on why this is just a software issue in your brain,” says Arthur. With some brain retraining, your neural circuitry can be rebooted.

2. Engage in gentle movement. Schmoe has designed a neurobic workout that helps activate your cerebellum and rewire neurons. It can also help with balance, coordination, and physical control. (Find Schmoe’s neurobic workout at “The Neurobic Workout.”)

3. Try somatic tracking. This mindfulness practice teaches your brain that your dizziness is not dangerous to you. Arthur offers guided practices on her YouTube channel, The Steady Coach.

4. Tend to your stress. Stress can trigger sustained chronic dizziness. To break the cycle, find a practice to ground yourself in the present and create emotional space from your stressors so you can respond more calmly. (For a helpful stress-relief technique, visit “What is EFT and How Does it Work?“)

5. Reduce brain inflammation. For many of his dizziness patients, Schmoe recommends nutritional supplements to help reduce brain inflammation and improve blood flow to the head. He suggests magnesium L-threonate, glutathione, vinpocetine, fatty acids, and ginkgo, as well as curcumin and resveratrol, which may support blood-brain barrier integrity.

6. Manage your blood sugar. Your inner ear responds to fluctuations in blood sugar, says Schmoe. Hypo­glycemia (low blood sugar), hyperglycemia (high blood sugar), and insulin resistance are among the most frequent causes of balance disorders.

7. Get sufficient ­vitamin D. Chronic dizziness is sometimes correlated with vitamin D deficiency. In one study, ­vitamin D–deficient patients with BPPV who received 50,000 IU of weekly supplemental vitamin D3, combined with physical therapy, experienced reduced symptoms that were sustained for at least six months.

8. Give your eyes a break. Completely avoiding visually stimulating environments can perpetuate the cycle of anxiety and symptoms, but taking occasional breaks from screens and other visually overwhelming stimuli can be helpful.

9. Try the home Epley maneuver. If you have been diagnosed with BPPV, your practitioner can teach you a method called the Epley maneuver to treat yourself at home. Both Arthur and Schmoe recommend against performing it without a diagnosis and training.