Technologies

I Uploaded a Photo of My Face to Get an AI-Generated Biological Age Estimate. It Shocked Me

Can AI help with a personalized health screening? I uploaded a selfie to find out.

Somewhere on TikTok, I discovered that you can upload a selfie to ChatGPT and ask what nonsurgical treatments you could consider for antiaging. It gives you a full breakdown, like an AI cosmetic surgeon.

Pretty cool, especially given the cost of a cosmetic doctor.

But I’d tested out ChatGPT already for beauty advice and FaceApp to show me how I’ll age. I was looking for advice from AI that went deeper with insights based on my skin and what’s going on underneath its surface. It is the body’s largest organ, after all.

That’s when I discovered Noom’s new AI Face Scan feature, which promises longevity stats from a simple selfie in seconds. I had to try it, even though I was scared about what it would reveal. Years of partying hard and traveling the world likely accelerated my aging process.

Worth it, though.

Noom, a health and longevity platform, launched Face Scan and Future Me in October 2025, available for free to use via the app. Face Scan is powered by NuraLogix, while Future Me uses Haut.ai.

Let’s see my biological age according to AI.

Huberman-style health insights, using AI

To access the AI features, I downloaded the Noom app and created a login. Noom asked a few questions like my age, height, weight and health goals. Once I was set up, I navigated to the Health tab, then selected Health Insights.

I was presented with three options: Face Scan, Future Me and Body Composition Scan.

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I was more interested in the health screening report to find out what AI predicted for my biological age, metabolic and heart health indicators and vital signs, as well as what Noom would recommend to improve it. Biological age tests are usually conducted through blood tests, and even then, they aren’t 100% accurate or indicative of overall health.

Selfie time, but do I dare do it without makeup? It’ll probably be more accurate.

Noom opened with its privacy policy, which you have to give consent for, then asked a few more questions, such as my birthday and whether I smoke, take any medications or have diabetes. This information is used for the biological age calculator. I scanned the privacy policy and couldn’t see any red flags.

Then it gave me some tips on how to take the best selfie. Basically, an intense close-up.

While it was loading, it gave more context about how it worked. Noom uses remote photoplethysmography (rPPG) to detect tiny changes in color and light absorption beneath the skin with the aim of determining blood volume and flow, heart rate, breathing and stress levels.

Photoplethysmography is the technology used in wearables, but studies are split on the validity of rPPG.

One study published in 2023 determined it was uncertain as to the extent that rPPG will be able to estimate blood pressure in real-world settings, due to physiologic, environmental and technical limitations. Another study (2021) stated, «image processing based approaches for rPPG have been shown to perform better than contact-based sensors for pulse rate determination.»

Noom has prefaced this in its fine print in the app, stating «Health insights in this report are for informational purposes only and do not constitute medical advice.»

What I saw next was what I feared: a biological age of 44 when I’m 37.

Granted, I took this photo with no makeup while recovering from an IVF procedure a few days ago. Growing up in the Australian sun likely didn’t help, either. According to Noom, it uses the «stress patterns from tiny color changes in the skin.»

Here’s what the report said:

Based on this, the AI app said I should focus on improving my cardiac workload and heart rate variability.

Next up, my metabolic health, which it said was optimal:

Looks like I need to work on the high triglycerides.

Next, I was hoping for a full report with lifestyle suggestions, but it directed me straight to a page to buy GLP-1 — drugs like Ozempic — to «lower my biological age.» Ouch.

This was a bit disappointing because it felt like the endgame was to get me to buy Noom’s products, rather than provide substantive advice.

So instead, I took all this information across to good ol’ ChatGPT for an action plan that I can review and reach out to my doctor about.

Here was my prompt: «I used Noom’s Face Scan feature to learn my biological age and health markers. Can you review the results and provide an action plan on how I can improve my health? I need to improve my cardiac workload and heart rate variability. It said I’m at risk of high triglycerides. Explain what all of this means and what I can do about it to reduce my biological age.»

Reviewing my results

I liked how I could feed all of the information from Noom into ChatGPT for further context. For example, ChatGPT told me the results don’t necessarily mean I’m «unhealthy,» but rather, I have physiological stress markers on the face, possibly due to inflammation and stress. It even said, «recent medical treatments can temporarily worsen bloat/inflammation.»

Thanks, ChatGPT.

Here’s where it got tactical with an action plan to reduce my biological age, improve heart function and lower triglycerides:

It also gave me a 30-day health optimization plan, which included 20-40 minutes of cardio, five minutes of HRV breathing, taking magnesium at night, a 10-minute walk after heavier meals, consuming 30-40g of protein with every meal, drinking 2 liters of water each day, getting morning sunlight and going to bed between 10:30 and 11 p.m. All of that was done daily — it also suggested several times a week of yoga or Pilates, strength training, using a sauna and taking long outdoor walks, as well as recommending a diet that was high in omega-3, low in carbs, low in alcohol, high in fiber and Mediterranean-style.

According to ChatGPT, following these basic tenets would improve my biological age within four to six weeks.

It’s important to note that this is not the same as an accurate medical diagnosis or treatment plan from a qualified clinician — and neither is Noom’s report either — so you should always consult your doctor when you have health concerns or are considering significant changes to your lifestyle (diet, taking supplements, etc.) — especially so that your medical information remains private.

The verdict

While I didn’t love Noom alone, I did find it useful to use those insights to prompt ChatGPT. I’ve ended the year with a big goal for 2026: to get serious about strength training. This reiterates health data I’ve explored with AI before.

Now I have a doable action plan to inform my new year’s goal setting.

(Disclosure: Ziff Davis, CNET’s parent company, in April filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, alleging it infringed Ziff Davis copyrights in training and operating its AI systems.)

Technologies

Google, Meta and Amazon Join Global Pact to Fight Rising Online Scams

The companies will share fraud intelligence and coordinate responses as AI makes scams faster, cheaper and harder to detect.

Modern online scams operate across multiple platforms, perhaps spanning social media, messaging apps, email and online marketplaces. Google, Meta and Amazon are among 11 tech, retail and payments companies that have signed a new agreement to combat online scams by sharing threat intelligence across platforms, Axios first reported Monday.

The initiative, called the Industry Accord Against Online Scams & Fraud, is designed to improve how companies detect and respond to fraud that spans multiple services. Participants say they will exchange signals, such as scam-linked accounts and fraudulent domains, and coordinate enforcement actions.

By sharing intelligence in near real time, companies hope to identify these scams earlier and stop them before they spread.

The effort reflects how modern scams operate. A victim might encounter a fake celebrity investment ad on social media, move to a messaging app where the scammer builds trust, then faces prompts to send money through a fraudulent website, payment app or crypto wallet — spanning multiple companies’ ecosystems.

Google said it now blocks hundreds of millions of scam-related results every day using AI, underscoring how both attackers and defenders are increasingly relying on the same technology. Meta removed more than 159 million scam ads in 2025 and is expanding AI tools to detect impersonation and warn users.

Online scams are growing rapidly, in part because generative AI has lowered the barrier to entry. AI can be used not only to produce realistic phishing emails but also to clone voices and deepfake videos that impersonate executives, public figures and even family members.

The agreement is voluntary and doesn’t create new legal obligations, but it comes after regulators’ increased pressure on tech platforms to address fraud more aggressively. The companies say they will begin building frameworks for reporting and intelligence-sharing, though it’s not yet clear how quickly those systems will be deployed or how effective they will be in practice.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Mini Crossword Answers for Wednesday, March 18

Here are the answers for The New York Times Mini Crossword for March 18.

Looking for the most recent Mini Crossword answer? Click here for today’s Mini Crossword hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Wordle, Strands, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.

Need some help with today’s Mini Crossword? I thought it was a fairly easy one, but read on for all the answers. And if you could use some hints and guidance for daily solving, check out our Mini Crossword tips.

If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.

Read more: Tips and Tricks for Solving The New York Times Mini Crossword

Let’s get to those Mini Crossword clues and answers.

Mini across clues and answers

1A clue: Word before «card,» flood» or «photography»
Answer: FLASH

6A clue: Joust weapon
Answer: LANCE

7A clue: Brain, heart or lungs
Answer: ORGAN

8A clue: «Frozen» reindeer
Answer: SVEN

9A clue: What can be found on frozen roads or frozen margaritas
Answer: SALT

Mini down clues and answers

1D clue: Follow a dentist’s recommendation
Answer: FLOSS

2D clue: Baby bug
Answer: LARVA

3D clue: Shape made in the snow
Answer: ANGEL

4D clue: Very little
Answer: SCANT

5D clue: Egg layer
Answer: HEN

Technologies

Amazon Speeds Up Delivery Even More With 1- and 3-Hour Options

The retailer says the one-hour option is available in hundreds of cities, with discounted shipping for Prime members.

Same-day delivery apparently isn’t fast enough for some Amazon shoppers. The retail giant said on Tuesday it’s adding new shipping options that will get products to front doors within a one- or three-hour window.

The company said in its announcement that the one-hour option is available in hundreds of cities across the US, while the three-hour option is now live in more than 2,000 areas. Amazon’s web page at amazon.com/getitfast shows whether those options are available to shoppers for their location. More than 90,000 products will be available for those shipping windows, the company said.

For those who can’t get those services (including the author of this post, who lives between Austin and San Antonio in Texas), a message will display: «3-hour delivery is currently unavailable. Check back at a later time or shop products with Same-Day delivery below.»

Pricing for the faster delivery options is not cheap: It’ll cost you $20 for one-hour delivery and $15 for three-hour delivery for those without an Amazon Prime account, or $10 and $5 for customers who subscribe to Prime.

Last year, the company rolled out faster Amazon delivery options to 4,000 additional areas.

In a video of the podcast Learn and Be Curious with Doug Herrington, hosted by Amazon’s CEO of worldwide stores, Kandace Kapps, the director of the company’s same-day strategy team, spoke in more detail about the challenges of fast shipping. Kapps discussed shifts in customer buying habits over the last few years, such as more people buying household essentials like toilet paper on Amazon.

She said that Amazon can deliver so quickly by placing same-day delivery hubs close to customers in metro areas and by getting products ready to ship within 15 minutes, aided by warehouse robots.

«I think customers are going to continue to get magically surprised by how fast we can deliver to their doorstop,» Kapps said.

Herrington said fast shipping increases sales: «When we speed up the service, the probability that somebody buys a product from us goes up.»

Other retailers, including Walmart, have been adding same-day delivery options or exploring other ways to speed up shipping times to compete with Amazon.

Removing buyers’ moments of hesitation

Part of Amazon’s strategy, which has involved a massive buildout of locations, deployment of thousands of trucks, deals with other delivery services and investment in logistics software, is actually pretty simple: being there when people need last-minute items or make impulse buys.

«It’s about removing the last moment where you would’ve reconsidered the purchase,» said Stephanie Carls, retail insights expert at coupon and promotional-code website RetailMeNot, a sibling site of CNET. «It changes how you shop, not just how fast you get things.»

Carls said that Amazon’s super-fast delivery is removing the timeframe when people might change their minds about a purchase.

«There used to be a gap between deciding to buy something and actually having it. That’s when you’d price check, rethink it, or decide you didn’t need it after all,» she said. «This closes that gap.»

The retail expert said that competitors, including Walmart and Target, have been speeding up delivery times in some markets. Still, they’re not matching Amazon’s scale or product range at those speeds or levels of consistency.

«And that’s what starts to make everyone else feel slow,» Carls said. «Amazon’s advantage is how tightly connected its technology, inventory and delivery networks are, which makes this level of speed more repeatable.»