All our life, we seek happiness. Some regard happiness as the key to a good life. Some find joy in little things. At times great things that make us smile come along our path. But one cannot be happy every day, every second of life. Can they? Well, not that we know of. Human life is an amalgamation of all emotions. But the question is, what is the shortest path to happiness for humans? Seeking the answer to this question are a group of Harvard researchers. 

A paper, Deep Longevity, published in collaboration with Harvard University, may have found the quickest path to happiness. And aiding in creating this path would be AI. 

Being happy with AI 

The authors created two digital models of human psychology based on data from the Midlife in the United States study. The first model is an ensemble of Deep Neural Networks that predicts the age and psychological well-being of the respondents in 10 years using information from a psychological survey. This model depicts the trajectories of the human mind as it develops with age. Also, it demonstrates the capacity to form meaningful connections. As well as mental autonomy and environmental mastery develop with age. It also suggests that the emphasis on personal progress is constantly declining, but the sense of having a purpose in life fades only when the individual reaches the age of 40-50. These results add to the growing body of knowledge on socio-emotional selectivity and hedonic adaptation in the context of personality development in adults. 

At the same time, the second model is a self-organizing map created to serve as the foundation for a recommendation engine for mental health applications. This unsupervised learning algorithm splits all respondents into clusters depending on their likelihood of developing depression and determines the shortest path toward a cluster of mental stability for any individual. Alex Zhavoronkov, the chief longevity officer of Deep Longevity, states that the existing mental health applications offer generic advice that applies to everyone yet fits no one. Therefore, they have built a scientifically sound system that offers superior personalization. 

To demonstrate the potential of this system, Deep Longevity has released a web service, FuturSelf- an online application that enables users to take the psychological test as stated in the original publication. At the end of the assessment, the users receive a report with insights to improve long-term mental well-being. In addition, they can enroll in a guidance program that provides them with a steady flow of AI-chosen recommendations. Data from FuturSelf will be utilized further to develop Deep Longevity's digital approach to mental health. FuturSelf is a free online mental health service that offers guidance based on an AI psychological profile assessment. The core of FuturSelf is represented by a self-organizing map that ranks respondents and identifies the most appropriate ways to improve well-being.

Expert insights 

Leading professors and researchers in the discipline have great expectations of the project. According to Professor Vadim Gladyshev of the Harvard Medical School, this study offers an exciting perspective on psychological age, future well-being, and depression risk. It demonstrates a novel application of Machine Learning approaches to psychological health issues. It also broadens how we view waging and transitions through life stages and emotional states. 

The authors also plan to continue studying human psychology in the context of raging and long-term wellness. In addition, they're working on a follow-up study on happiness's effect on physiological ageing measures.