The key word for future healthcare will be "precision health." It refers to the concept of collecting and analyzing physical information while healthy to prevent diseases, which means "precision medicine" for patient treatment. If precision health is realized, there may be no hospitals in 50 or 100 years.
Professor Park Seung-min of Nanyang Technological University (NTU) in Singapore noted in a phone interview with ChosunBiz that "precision health is expected to be realized on Mars soon" and said, "By 2029 at the earliest, we will see precision health systems like smart toilets on Mars."
Professor Park visited Korea to give a keynote speech at "Medical Korea 2025" held on the 20th at COEX in Gangnam, Seoul. Medical Korea is the largest healthcare and medical tourism conference in the country, hosted by the Ministry of Health and Welfare and organized by the Korea Health Industry Development Institute. He presented on the theme of "Smart Connected Health: Accelerating precision health innovation through artificial intelligence (AI) integration."
Professor Park received the Ig Nobel Prize from the "Annals of Improbable Research" published by Harvard University in 2023. The Ig Nobel Prize is awarded to scientists who provide humor while giving people a serious opportunity to think, parodying the Nobel Prize, the highest honor in science. Professor Park won in the public health field for his research on smart toilets.
Smart toilets analyze urination and defecation using built-in cameras to assess health conditions. He said, "Smart toilets are tools that allow users to easily measure their health status in their daily lives" and added, "Precision health can be implemented through smart toilets, wearable devices, and smart home systems."
The medical community reached a consensus in 2015 that the concept of "precision medicine" must be tailored to each patient. Even patients suffering from the same illness have different health conditions and genetic traits, so treatment methods should vary accordingly.
In 2017, Professor Park, while conducting research at Stanford University in the United States, paid attention to the concept of precision health. He argued that healthcare must progress beyond tailored treatment found in precision medicine to develop precision health, which involves collecting and analyzing medical information while healthy to prevent diseases.
Professor Park stated, "Although precision health is a relatively new concept, all technological limits have already been overcome," and "Considering the pace of AI development, the realization of precision health is likely to happen in the near future." He mentioned movements to create smart cities that enhance the quality of life using various data around the world to implement precision health.
In particular, he noted that since the inauguration of the Trump administration, Elon Musk's advocacy for Mars exploration has been discussed concretely. He stated, "There are attempts to implement precision health in space during Musk's Mars exploration," and added, "By 2029 at the earliest, precision health may be realized on Mars before Earth." He also revealed, "In 2021, I was invited by NASA to hold a workshop on health management for astronauts in preparation for deep space exploration, and the key concept proposed at that time was precision health."
The reason Professor Park focuses on Mars exploration is that it allows verification of miniaturization, expense, sustainability, and other issues while implementing precision health with limited resources in a space environment. He indicated that if precision health systems are realized on Mars, it will be possible for AI to collect health data and prevent diseases on Earth within a few years.
Professor Park remarked, "As the realization of precision health is drawing nearer, we must start preparing for it," and stressed that the most urgent issue is the consensus on data ethics among the government and society members.
The principle of data minimization means that only the minimum necessary data for AI analysis should be obtained or utilized. Since health data is among the most sensitive personal information, issues such as how to obtain information and how to obtain consent must be addressed. Professor Park emphasized, "With the rapid development of AI technology, we are currently at a 'turning point' where the realization of precision health is advancing rapidly" and noted, "Expeditious social discussions are needed to precede innovations like never before."