WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS AND RISKS?
There is a growing body of research looking at the suitability of AI-generated exercise programmes across a host of contexts.
One study had ChatGPT design an individualised exercise programme for five made-up people, which were then evaluated by a team of experts. They concluded the AI tool could provide safe, basic exercise recommendations, but may not provide enough adaptability to ensure long-term progress.
Similarly, another study had expert running coaches assess AI-generated running programmes. They thought the exercise programmes were suitable for novices but not great for trained athletes.
The effectiveness of these programmes appears to be highly dependent on the level of information provided. In short, the more context you can provide regarding your current capabilities, goals and fitness level, the better the exercise programme will be.
However, providing such detailed prompts requires a degree of content-specific knowledge that many people don’t have. This may make AI tools less useful to the average person.
Finally, it is not clear whether AI systems can fully account for injuries or medical conditions. Health screening is important to keep people safe before exercising and something all exercise professionals should do before writing you a program.
If this is being missed, there is the potential for an AI-generated exercise programme to be unsafe for your current level of health.