12.05.2025.
A team of researchers has developed a new artificial intelligence (AI) tool that can estimate how fast you are ageing – just by analyzing a photo of your face.
Why does biological age matter?
People do not all age at the same speed. Lifestyle choices like smoking, high stress, and even your genetics can make a person look older or younger than their real age. This new tool, called FaceAge, looks at how old a person appears in a photo and compares it to their actual age. The idea is to measure biological age, which reflects the health of your body and cells – not just the number of years you’ve lived.
How was it developed?
Researchers trained FaceAge using almost 59,000 face images. Then, they tested it on about 6,200 cancer patients. The results showed that, on average, these patients looked about five years older than their actual age. FaceAge scores were also higher for people with cancer than for those without it.
Helping with cancer care
FaceAge was especially useful for doctors treating patients in palliative care. It helped them predict short-term life expectancy more accurately than many medical professionals could on their own. This could lead to better planning and support for patients nearing the end of life.
Possible future uses
Researchers believe that FaceAge could eventually be used as a health warning system. By detecting signs of early ageing, it could help doctors identify people at risk of developing chronic illnesses. Since many chronic diseases are linked to ageing, knowing how fast someone is ageing can offer important health insights.
Limitations and next steps
The tool isn’t perfect. It was mainly trained on photos of white individuals, so it may not be as accurate for people from other ethnic backgrounds. Also, things like lighting, makeup, or cosmetic surgery could affect the results.
The research team is now working on testing the tool with more diverse groups of patients and real-world conditions.
