Society's health depends on community – the ultimate companion to technology

In many areas, the world is on the cusp of incredible change. From AI to carbon capture to GLP-1 obesity drugs, humanity is taking on the biggest challenges of our time with impressive technological advancement.

Technology is an increasingly powerful and vital partner in affecting social change. Still, it’s only one part of an ecosystem that includes our natural and built environment, policy, and social relationships.

When Noom co-founder Artem Petakov and I set out to change healthcare from primarily a sick-care institution to an industry focused on human wellness, we knew that human beings are born with an innate capacity for change, and that technology could be the means. But technology isn’t everything.

Daily, we see people impacted by technological advancements. Wearable devices, data collection, personalization and AI have aided us in helping millions of people to live better, healthier lives. We know that the best change happens with technology and innovation as one part of a holistic, humanistic approach – where knowledge, behaviour change, connection and community are equal partners.

Technology can sometimes feel omnipresent and inevitable, but if we give ourselves over to technological solutions entirely, we risk losing the connections, resilience and creativity that make humanity so strong.

With the recent surge in GLP-1 medication use, we already see how the voracious demand for technological advancement impacts the market. A seemingly magical cure that curbs appetites can feel like a paradigm shift. But, within a few short years, the hope and possibility these medications open up has come up against many barriers, including lack of supply, cost-prohibitive access, and uncertainty about the long-term impacts of these medications on weight loss and health outcomes that last a lifetime.

It is unsustainable for the individual, insurance companies and the pharmaceutical industry to support a life-long dependence on GLP-1 medications. Studies show that taking these medications without accompanying lifestyle changes results in worse outcomes than not taking the medicine to begin with. Behaviour change programmes like Noom are the best way to curb users’ long-term dependence on these medications.

At the same time, the US Surgeon General declares loneliness to be at epidemic heights, exponentially impacting life expectancy, chronic health outcomes and cost of care. Our society is at risk of devolving into one of larger, more isolated individuals, and we know through watching social media change how we communicate that technological advancement alone is not a reliable solution.

This is a critical moment for global health – our ability to fund and distribute life-changing support will hinge on making quick change into lasting change, harnessing the best human minds and compassion have to offer.

While we know that we can maximize our health outcomes with the help of advanced technology, technology can not, and must not, replace the human drive, creativity, and connection that are integral to achieving a healthy life.

Suppose we don’t supplement medicine with human intervention and support. In that case, consumers will lose trust in the medical system, lose confidence in themselves, and find further isolation at a time when loneliness is already a rising cause of adverse health outcomes.

A diversified approach will drive success in changing the health of our society – specifically, a multi-pronged pathway to health supported by the four fundamentals we call the “four Cs”:

We can apply this approach more broadly to navigate many of the problems our society faces as technology develops: trust in science, group and individual coaching, community support, and access to knowledge are four great companions to technological intervention.

Investing in the power of community, the human capacity for change, and the support of humanity itself (from policy to the environment to the increasingly powerful computers in our pockets or on our wrists), we’ll find our way past any problem. Let us continue to use technology to bring people together, face our challenges directly, and put human connection at the centre of our health, lives and communities.