The most popular mobile payment app in China, Alipay, has revealed a startling new feature: an AI-powered hair loss detection tool. Users can upload pictures of their scalps to the image recognition system, which has been trained on thousands of medical images, and receive automatic analysis and recommendations, including advice for medical treatment where appropriate.
Although some people might find this useful, concerns regarding privacy have been raised by the app’s intrusion into personal data, such as health information. Critics argue that because apps such as Alipay aggregate a large amount of user data in one location, China has regulations obliging businesses to provide this data to the government upon request.
The hair loss detector is a feature of Alipay’s “Medical Assistant,” which was added in April 2024 and broadens the controversial “super app”‘s scope into health diagnosis, according to local media.Ant Group, Alibaba’s finance division, runs Alipay and provides a variety of services like social networking, travel booking, and taxi hailing.
Elon Musk wants to turn X.com into an all-in-one platform akin to the Eastern region. He has long advocated for the use of multifunctional “super apps” and has been a vocal advocate for their acceptance. Nonetheless, the idea of consolidating all user activity into a single stream under the supervision of private companies has alarmed Western watchdogs.
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