Galaxy phones and watches will gain a terrifying ability: They will detect dementia years in advance

Most of us have someone in our family who struggles with memory loss. The statistics are relentless – one in three people over 85 suffers from dementia. Samsung is now introducing technology that promises to catch warning signs years in advance. All it takes are the things you do every day – typing messages, scrolling through Instagram, or simply walking.

The South Korean giant has joined forces with neurologists to create something that, for now, sounds more like a work by Philip K. Dick than reality. Digital biomarkers – the traces we leave when using technology – are said to be able to reveal what’s going on in our heads.

The Brain Leaves Digital Fingerprints

Try to remember how you used to text ten years ago and how you text today. You might have noticed you make more typos. Or that it takes you longer to find the right word. Samsung claims that these subtle details could signal an emerging problem.

It’s not just about typos. Researchers are monitoring the entire ecosystem of your digital life. Do you stop calling friends? This could be social withdrawal, a typical symptom. Do you get lost in simple apps? Executive brain functions are deteriorating. Is the rhythm of your walking, recorded by your watch, changing? That also means something.

Each of these signals means nothing on its own. But when the algorithm puts them together, a pattern emerges. And that can be compared to a database of patients in the early stages of dementia.

Your Voice Reveals More Than You Think

Among the most interesting discoveries is speech analysis. It’s not just about what you say, but primarily how. Microscopic hesitations when searching for words, changes in intonation, even the way you breathe between sentences.

Samsung tested a simple method – people repeated short sentences. A healthy brain can do this automatically, but a brain with emerging problems has to think more. Those extra few milliseconds? A clear signal for the algorithm.

Combined with data on how often and with whom you make calls, a comprehensive picture of your social and linguistic abilities emerges. These are precisely what Alzheimer’s attacks first.

Hospital-Level Accuracy in Your Pocket

At this year’s IEEE conference in Copenhagen, Samsung presented results that raised eyebrows even among skeptics. Their system achieved accuracy comparable to classic dementia tests. But while you wait months for a neurological examination and it costs thousands, you always have your phone with you.

The first study monitored how people type on their phones – not just speed, but also the rhythm of keystrokes, pauses between words, and deletion habits. The second analyzed walking using sensors in the Galaxy Watch. When both datasets were combined, a surprisingly accurate diagnostic tool emerged.

It’s important to note that Samsung doesn’t claim to diagnose Alzheimer’s. It’s about screening – a first filter that catches suspicious cases and sends them to a doctor before it’s too late.

An Ethical Minefield Everywhere You Look

Imagine a morning when your phone notifies you: “Your cognitive functions show a 15% decline compared to the average.” What do you do with such information? Will you go to a doctor? Will you tell your family?

Samsung is currently vague about how the system would work in practice. Will data be processed locally or in the cloud? Who will have access to it? Can an employer demand it during a job interview?

Then there’s the question of accuracy. Even the best algorithm sometimes makes mistakes. A false alarm can ruin months of someone’s life with unnecessary worries. On the other hand, what if the system misses something?

However, the reality of deployment is still far off. Samsung speaks of “ongoing development” and “the need for validation.” Translated from corporate speak: years of testing, approvals, and legal wrangling await us.

Perhaps it’s better this way. Technology that can peer into your brain through the way you tap your phone deserves a good dose of caution. But once it matures, it could save millions of people from getting lost within themselves. And that might be worth the invasion of privacy. Maybe.

Do you have someone in your family with Alzheimer’s disease?

Source: Samsung, AndroidAuthority