Alipay, China’s dominant mobile payment app, has unveiled a surprising new feature: an AI-powered tool to detect hair loss.
The image recognition system, trained on thousands of medical images, allows users to upload pictures of their scalp to receive automated analysis and suggestions, including recommendations for medical treatment when applicable.
Based on local media, the hair loss detector is part of Alipay’s “Medical Assistant,” which was added in April 2024, further expanding the reach of the controversial “super app” into health diagnosis.
Alipay is operated by Ant Group, the fintech arm of Alibaba, and it offers different types of services such as taxi-hailing, travel booking, and social networking.
While a few may find this convenient, this encroachment into personal data like health information by the app has generated fears about privacy. The argument from critics is that apps like Alipay bring together too many bits of user data in one place, hence China’s laws requiring companies to give out this data to the government upon request.
Elon Musk has always been a proponent of multipurpose “super apps” and has strongly pushed for their adoption, and he aims to transform X.com into an Eastern-like all-in-one platform. Nevertheless, Western watchdogs have raised concerns over centralizing entire user activities into one stream controlled by private entities.
Also Read: Apple Integrates ChatGPT in No-Cash Deal with OpenAI
