- Lark is an app-based (iOS and Android) DPP entirely powered by artificial intelligence, meaning users can get real-time feedback without waiting for a coach.
- A simple red-yellow-green system makes food logging simple and convenient for users.
- Lark markets both to individual users in addition to employers, increasing its availability to the general public.
- Cost for individual users is $19.99/month, which is less expensive than comparable digital DPPs with real-life coaches.
Summary
Lark is an app-based Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP) with the unique feature of being almost entirely automated, based on artificial intelligence that augments a small team of specialized human coaches.[1] This automation means that users can receive instant feedback at any time, simply by texting their nutrition and physical activity, or connected scale information to their automated coach. Lark also features an option for logging meals based on a straightforward three-color system (red, yellow, and green, like a stoplight), which has the potential to reduce the burden of logging, potentially increasing retention among users who might otherwise find logging to be too much of a hassle. Likely because it uses artificial intelligence instead of live coaches, Lark’s weight loss offering costs $19.99 per month for individual users, somewhat less than comparable programs. Its DPP costs $31.60 per month and includes a digital smart scale. Yes Health, the other major app-based DPP that markets directly to individuals, for example, has live coaches available 14 hours per day, but costs $39 per month for the first 4 months, and then $15 per month for the maintenance program thereafter.[2] Lark also works with healthcare providers, meaning it can compete in that market with other programs like Omada.
Why It Stands Out
Lark’s use of artificial intelligence (AI) has drawn a good deal of attention, and for good reason. AI holds the promise of combining the personalized feedback, motivation, and guidance of one-on-one coaching, but the convenience, rapid responses, and low-cost scalability of automation. Lark has been named one of the “10 Best Apps of 2015” by Apple, and one of Business Insider’s “10 Most Innovative Apps in the World.” While Lark has not yet published any outcomes, its curriculum is approved by the CDC’s Diabetes Prevention Recognition Program (DPRP), so we are eager to see whether it can demonstrate comparable results from AI to those that can be achieved by live coaches.
- “Lark,” Lark, 2016, http://www.lark.com.
- “Yes Health,” Yes Health, 2016, https://www.yeshealth.com.
