A new Austin, Texas-based health startup sells a camera with artificial intelligence software that monitors gut health by snapping pictures of feces.

“Throne is a first-of-its-kind health solution that allows you to track your gut health and hydration from the comfort and privacy of your own home,” Throne wrote on its website, calling its camera that clips on the side of a toilet bowl “artificial gut intelligence.”

Throne redefines health tracking with a smart toilet camera.

It offers real-time hydration tracking and gut health monitoring through daily waste analysis.@ThroneScience provides personalized feedback on your diet and digestive health to help you make proactive choices for… pic.twitter.com/f5KBh2lG3l

— Ritwik Pavan (@ritwikpavan) October 24, 2024

The website continued, explaining the device uses a “downward-facing camera that sits elegantly on the edge of your toilet bowl, capturing essential health insights and nothing else.” 

The device collects poop data, using AI to analyze each image, aiming to determine if the user is hydrated, how well expensive vitamins and probiotics are absorbed, and whether there are any unique food sensitivities or intolerances based on the composition of the stool. 

Throne is building this for colon cancer.

14 million Americans alive today will be diagnosed with colorectal cancer.

1 in 3 will die of it — despite the fact that colon cancer is cured with a 1-hr procedure if you catch it early.

Most don’t.

Fixing that is our North Star. https://t.co/vpgiqpDpIH

— scott hickle 🚽 (@ScottHickle) October 9, 2024

The focus is mainly on an aging population and those with chronic digestive conditions, such as inflammatory bowel diseases, that are surging in the population, likely because of processed foods. 

So does ‘AGI’ really mean ‘artificial gut intelligence’ or ‘artificial general intelligence’ ?..