Wellness Is Harder Than It Looks

The global wellness industry has grown to $1.8 trillion in 2024, with its U.S. market alone growing to about $480 billion in size and increasing 5-10% per year. People are investing in health, fitness, sleep, mindfulness and nutrition. But what’s actually working?

You decide to finally get a health routine, for instance. Open Sigma Browser Agent in your sidebar and prompt: “I need a balanced weekly wellness plan: workouts, meal suggestions, and sleep routines based on research”. While you surf memes or sip your coffee, Sigma will fetch studies, compare diets, develop evidence-based sleep methods, draft a plan and even order necessary sports equipment if you ask. Edit, tweak, and launch without wasting your morning on 20 tabs of diet blogs, fitness forums, and sleep hack articles.

The internet is full of health misinformation. An agent that can sift through that noise and help you build something actually sustainable is worth its weight in gold. This will enable you to build habits that last.

The Rise of AI in Everyday Health

The combination of wearable data, natural language, and AI insights is definitely one of the coolest combinations possible today. Prototype research PhysioLLM is doing exactly this. It ingests wearable data (activity, heart rate, sleep) and enables users to ask questions in natural language. They can, for example, ask why their energy levels were low on Thursday evening or what sleep habits worked for them last week. The prototype answers with not just numbers, but conclusions that users can act on. In a user study, PhysioLLM outdid both the standard Fitbit app as well as a general chatbot at conveying helpful, individualized insights.

And there’s the area of algorithmic health nudging. A study of 84,000 participants in Singapore used an AI-powered nudging platform and found it increased daily step count by 6.17% and weekly moderate to vigorous physical activity by 7.61%. Those numbers might sound small, but they’re meaningful when amplified across populations. The AI didn’t scream at participants; it provided gentle nudges relevant to their routines.

The advantages are clear: AI makes health more personalized, adaptive, and less one-size-fits-all. It will catch trends you won’t, remind you when the time is right, and get you to bridge the gap between intention and action. No doubt about it: there are limits to this technology.

Sometimes AI Becomes the Nagging Coach

It is not all sunshine and gym selfies. AI health software only is helpful if actually used.

And then there’s orthosomnia: the term coined for when people become obsessed with “perfect sleep data”. Rather than relaxing, they stare at tracker graphs, worry about “deep sleep minutes”, and end up stressing themselves into worse rest. The irony is painful: obsessive sleep tracking can actually make it worse.

And then there’s the “summary trap”: most AI health apps provide auto-generated summaries of your data: “you slept 7 hours, HRV was low” etc. Users have grumbled that such summaries are generic, obvious, or divorced from actual context. Like being told ‘your HR dipped: great, right?’ when they were simply cold or restless. The Verge wasn’t slow to decry such fitness summaries as “unbearably obvious”.

AI models are only as biased and limited as the data they’ve learned from. If your app’s predictions learn from data of healthy, young, trained users, they will not be correct for an unhealthy or older user. This can even lead to dangerous recommendations being made.

And the “nagging coach” effect: AI that constantly tosses nudges or alarms your way can feel like an overenthusiastic gym partner. People disable health notifications entirely because they feel judged or harassed. The personalisation paradox in behaviour change apps is here: more data or more reminders are discouraging, especially when the AI gets your mood wrong or overshoots.

These are real fallibilities. Yet an AI wellness agent crafted with humility, transparency, and permission can avoid these pitfalls. Sigma’s style is the default choice here.

Enter Sigma: Your AI Wellness Sidekick in Action

You know those apps that tell you “just stand up” or “drink water” and that’s all? Sigma Browser Agent will do more. Picture this: your digital health coach, tirelessly working behind the scenes.

Picture that you’ve finally decided that it’s time to get serious about working out. You know you should sift through gym websites, decipher price lists and call around for trial lessons, but you can’t be arsed. With Sigma Browser Agent, you simply type into the sidebar: “Find me gyms within 3 miles, costing less than $80 a month, with evening yoga classes, and book me a trial session this week.” The agent will look up the reviews, schedules and membership deals, compare them and reserve your spot. Ten minutes later, you’re checking your email and there’s your Thursday night yoga confirmation. No stress, no tabs, no phone calls.

Where Wellness and AI Might Go Next

Reflecting: AI in wellness is far more than calorie or step tracking. Real tools tell people what to do and when to do it and provide nudges that lead to behaviour change. There is always room for error and tools can at times seem over-prescriptive or misinformed.

It is clear that agents that live in your browser, that can gather information, cross-reference sources, format your plan, and suggest modifications, are the key to creating and cultivating successful wellness habits. Something that helps without screaming, learns without spying, suggests without judgment, is what you need.

Wellness technology in the future is going to be even more ambient. Looking forward to viewing suggestions associated with your calendar (recommended rest when you’ve got back-to-back meetings in your calendar), meal planning that varies based on what’s in your fridge, additional integrated AR/VR sleep or meditation support, and agents that can take action for you (book classes, order groceries, schedule rest). If you want to be healthy but without the work, these agents will be a game-changer. They will help you achieve a healthy life.