From Sesame Credit to Quantified Health: How Big Data Is Transforming Our Lives

In recent years, with the rapid development of the Internet of Things (IoT), big data, and artificial intelligence technologies, the world has become increasingly digital. Big data now measures everything, assisting humans in making precise decisions. This new era of “Industrial Revolution” has gradually integrated into modern life, bringing conveniences that were unimaginable just a few years ago.

For instance, in the payment sector, the emergence of Ant Group’s Zhima Credit Score and WeChat Pay Score has reconstructed a new commercial credit system using big data, popularizing deposit-free services. In the social networking domain, apps like Tantan and Soul have boldly leveraged AI and big data to help users find love. Meanwhile, in the healthcare field, cases of digitally quantifying human health status have emerged, with Miao Health and the Mayo Clinic pioneering algorithmic models.

In an era where data permeates every aspect of life, nearly all problems, no matter how seemingly unquantifiable they once appeared, are gradually finding ways to be measured. As American author Luke Dormehl describes in his book The Age of Algorithms: the human world is being infused with computational logic; people need not understand the obscure and complex “black box” technologies—simply inputting data yields results. Big data and algorithms have become assets that society, enterprises, and individuals can no longer ignore.

Numbers do not lie. Thanks to advancements in big data technology, quantifying risk has become possible, enabling effective management. Some enterprises have begun to identify business patterns from data, leveraging artificial intelligence algorithms to build models and uncover customer needs. By allowing data to support business operations and drive value—either directly or indirectly—these efforts are fostering the emergence of innovative new economic models.

As previously mentioned, in January 2015, Ant Financial launched China’s first personal big data credit scoring product—Zhima Credit Score. The Zhima Credit Score ranges from 350 to 950 points, with scores above 700 indicating an extremely low default rate and excellent creditworthiness. Primarily leveraging self-collected and self-utilized data within the Alibaba ecosystem, Zhima Credit operates independently of the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) credit reporting system. It focuses on consumers’ assets, repayment capacity, social connections, and identity characteristics, while also incorporating high-frequency behavioral preferences observed on Taobao and Alipay.

Sesame Credit’s assessment criteria remain based on users’ daily behaviors. Why does planting trees in Ant Forest boost one’s Sesame Credit score? Because individuals who consistently engage in walking accumulate energy points, thereby continuously feeding data back into AI models. This represents a positive accumulation of behavior; a healthy lifestyle suggests that the individual is likely to maintain long-term repayment reliability. Sesame Credit is not only more than sufficient for consumer scenarios but also enables “credit-based visas” for outbound tourism and is even used by some dating websites for identity verification.

There are many similar scenarios. Tencent Games also leverages big data computing to derive a comprehensive score reflecting players’ in-game creditworthiness. A higher score indicates better gaming credit, whereas players engaging in negative behaviors—such as abandoning matches, going AFK (away from keyboard), or using abusive language—are subject to certain penalties. These metrics also help enhance user stickiness, continuously refine the information feedback loop, improve the precision of quantified data, and foster a more harmonious and fair gaming ecosystem.

In the algorithm-driven economy, accurate user profiles are built by collecting user characteristics and preference data through various tracking methods, then leveraging AI algorithms to classify, filter, and curate this information, thereby proactively recommending the content users most desire. Common applications in e-commerce, news aggregation, and short-video platforms have flexibly adopted this mechanism, which not only reflects the demographic characteristics of the market but also identifies strategic entry points for product development, enabling precision marketing and effective conversion.

Technology for Good: Forging Connections and Crafting Romance. Social platforms like Tantan and Soul flexibly leverage algorithmic mechanisms, intelligently filtering and calculating multi-dimensional data—including user tags, behavioral patterns, and psychological motivations—to help users establish precisely matched connections. Intelligent social matching brings together individuals with shared interests, reduces the risks associated with interacting with strangers, and enhances efficiency.

If the “soul” can be modeled algorithmically, could the human body also have such a model? The answer is undoubtedly yes. The Mayo Clinic in the United States has developed a test that measures the levels of more than 50 types of microorganisms in the human gut and then uses a formula to calculate the Gut Microbiome Health Index (GMHI). This index assists physicians in predicting potential risks of gastrointestinal diseases. It can be regarded as a “credit score for the gut,” providing key reference indicators for fostering a balanced microbial environment within the body.

It is worth noting that human health is all-encompassing; quantifying health status cannot rely on a single indicator but requires a multi-dimensional, comprehensive health assessment. As a digital precision health management platform, Miao Health is the first in China to propose using the Comprehensive Health Index “H-Value” to digitally quantify an individual’s health status. This approach provides more granular data references for disease risk prediction and is widely applied in scenarios such as health management, medical consultation, and insurance.

Simply put, the “H-Score” is equivalent to the “Sesame Credit Score” in the health sector. The H-Platform assigns users a score ranging from 1 to 1000 through tiered management of health risks. A higher H-Score indicates better physical health and lower health risks. What problems can the H-Score address? It enables continuous monitoring of individual health status, encourages proactive user engagement in health management, and makes improvements in physical health visibly measurable, rather than relying on passive treatment after illness occurs.

Individuals often have a low level of awareness regarding their own health status, yet they are highly sensitive to changes in related health metrics. The underlying logic of Miao Health’s “H-Value” lies in population segmentation, involving processes such as data collection, health record systems, tagging, user profiling, and risk stratification. By analyzing dimensions including physiological characteristics, genetic factors, lifestyle, and psychological status, it provides a reference for subsequent “AI + human” lifestyle medicine interventions, thereby achieving personalized health management services tailored to each individual.

From a medical perspective, diabetes and hypertension are both common chronic diseases. However, from an insurance claims standpoint, the future claim risk associated with hypertension is higher than that of diabetes. Therefore, monitoring changes in the H-value can help insurers enhance data transparency and improve claims management. It also enables the provision of personalized health improvement plans for high-risk individuals, including medical consultation guidance and precise appointment scheduling, thereby encouraging users to adopt healthier lifestyles and ultimately reducing insurance claim rates.

Data aggregation can enhance social efficiency, but human society should not be driven solely by efficiency. In the commercial era, data profiling must be guided by ethics and empathy, with the security of digital assets prioritized above all else. Big data and AI algorithms serve as powerful tools that influence every aspect of modern life. While enjoying the conveniences brought by technological advancements, we must avoid undermining human interests, dignity, and status as the primary subjects of value, instead striving to uphold positive values that benefit humanity.

Therefore, enterprises driven by big data development should pay attention to the boundaries of information collection, as well as the scenarios for data mining and utilization. They should incorporate humanistic care into algorithms, ensuring that algorithms serve society and adhere to the principle that technology serves humanity, rather than treating individuals merely as tools subjected to cumulative digital algorithms. Phenomena such as price discrimination against existing customers ("big data killing") are not technical issues but matters of values. Responsible enterprises should adhere to the principles of information security and reliability, and standardize processes including user notification, data authorization, and secure storage.

In this regard, the aforementioned internet companies have largely adhered strictly to regulatory requirements. Miao Health, in particular, given the sensitive nature of the health data it collects—which is closely tied to users’ life and well-being—has specifically obtained Level 3 certification for its Information System Security Protection. Its authorization agreements are open and transparent, providing greater peace of mind to users. For users, ownership and usage rights of data remain with you; please carefully read and understand each user service agreement presented, and proactively enhance your awareness of personal privacy protection. In the era of digital living, amidst uncertainty, change, and risk, making prudent use of big data and algorithmic analytical tools to firmly keep risks under your own control is paramount to achieving a fulfilling life.