Healthcare lags behind other major sectors of the global economy in measures of AI maturity, scoring just 1.3 out of a possible 5 across 15 categories.

That’s well behind the leading sectors—life sciences/pharmaceuticals (4.3), technology (3.8) and food/farming (2.5). Even retail (2.2), transport/mobility (2.0) and built environment/construction (1.9) are ahead of healthcare.

The scores are from a survey of 932 business leaders commissioned by BSI Group, part of the London-based British Standards Institution. The organization heard back from respondents in the U.K., U.S., France, Germany, The Netherlands, China, Japan, India and Australia. The categories included things like AI investment, AI training, and internal/external communications around AI.

A good bit of news for low-scoring healthcare from the BSI analysts who authored the survey report: “There may be upsides to being less mature at this stage of society’s AI shift—relentless optimism could detract from mitigating potential risks.”

Here are excerpts from BSI’s observations on results in five of the 15 scoring categories.

1. Investment.

Small and medium enterprises are having trouble keeping up with larger operations, with 62% of the latter planning major spending in the next five years against 41% for smaller firms.

Money alone will not determine the success of an AI rollout, but it can be seen as a statement of intent.

2. Confidence and appetite within the enterprise.

Leaders in life sciences and technology are most likely to say their business encourages the use of AI (88%), but only 54% of those in healthcare say the same.

Despite this, three quarters (74%) in healthcare say they are confident in the industry’s ability to harness the benefits of AI.  

3. Internal communications and engagement.

Overall, three quarters of organizations (74%) are informing employees about how AI is being used now or will be used in the future. Yet less than a third (32%) are providing a significant volume of information. This is highest in China (93%) and India (90%) and lowest in Japan (53%) and the U.K. (58%).

AI information provision to employees is highest in life sciences (83%) and technology (83%) and lowest in healthcare (48%).

4. Trust in AI.

Nearly 80% of respondents say they have greater trust in AI than a year ago, although there is a divide here: A quarter (24%) in the U.K. and 21% in France disagree.

Trust is also low among those working in healthcare and transportation.

5. Training.

Some 87% of the leaders surveyed felt businesses have a responsibility to train teams on AI tools in order to protect jobs. Yet there was a sizeable gap between expectation and reality.

While three quarters of businesses leaders globally (76%) said they were aware of their company offering training for employees in how to use AI tools safely and ethically, only two-fifths said their organizations had a specific learning and development program to ensure successful delivery of AI training.

Another point to ponder: “While 80% of leaders say they are more excited about the potential use of AI by business than a year ago,” the BSI authors note, “more than half (52%) also say they are more worried about this today, reflecting the complex relationship societies have with AI.”

Full report here (PDF).

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Buzzworthy developments of the past few days.

• Amazon doesn’t do anything small. That includes healthcare AI. At the Aspen Ideas Festival in June, a pair of Amazon C-suiters took questions from moderator Katie Couric about the future of AI in healthcare. Upon returning from the event, the execs summarized their points as “five ways Amazon is using AI to help transform healthcare.” Nothing in the five is especially novel, but you have to respect Amazon’s ambition and confidence. “Across Amazon, every one of our teams is working on building generative AI applications that reinvent and enhance their customers’ experiences. This includes healthcare,” the leaders write. “We believe we can make the healthcare experience easier for patients and providers, and we know generative AI will play a critical role in that.”
   
• Clinical applications might represent the most exciting use cases for AI in healthcare. But don’t underestimate the appeal of AI to help provider orgs get paid. Writing in ICD-10 Monitor, medical coding and documentation expert Cassi Birnbaum kicks of a multipart series of articles focusing on generative AI’s potential to do great things for revenue cycle management. “GenAI can be a game-changer by managing and processing the intricate web of unstructured data across clinical notes, insurance claims, diagnostic images, medical charts and more,” she writes. Can. She did say can. To bring about a best-case scenario, she suggests, RCM professionals “must be clear on what problems and challenges we hope to solve and improve.” Read the rest.
   
• Despite the great expectations it continues to build, clinical AI is still struggling to find a foothold in healthcare. Most physicians and nurses still have yet to use it on the job. What explains the disconnect between the eager anticipation and the low implementation? For one thing, developers and end-users often speak different languages. “Data scientists know how to build algorithms but may not understand healthcare business models or workflows,” Ronald Razmi, MD, tells HIMSS Media outlet Healthcare IT News. “Clinicians understand workflows but generally don’t know data science or how to build companies.” Razmi is managing director of Zoi Capital and author of AI Doctor: The Rise of Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare.
   
• The FDA’s list of approved medical devices equipped with AI is now just 50 products away from the 1,000 mark. Announcing the latest slew Aug. 7, the agency reminds browsers that the list is neither exhaustive nor comprehensive. Instead, it’s compiled mostly from information provided by manufacturers. It’s also sortable by various column heads. Check it out.
   
• A business executive who will remain unnamed has put some popular AI tools to the test. The real-world results were so disappointing that the corporate professional—a chief marketing officer—quit using a number of them. An example: 40% of emails written by Google’s Gemini AI service were unsalvageable. In fact, Business Insider reports, the messages were so poorly conceived that they “did damage to customer relationships.” Get the rest.
   
• Across the Atlantic, the U.K.’s National Health Service remains optimistic about AI’s potential to transform healthcare (for the better). Allowing AI safe and secure access to all medical data trapped in data siloes “will improve the representativeness, accuracy and equality of AI tools to benefit all walks of society,” Sir John Bell tells the BBC. One happy result will be “reducing the financial and economic burden of running a world-leading NHS, leading to a healthier nation.” Sir John is president of the Ellison Institute of Technology in Oxford, which the Beeb describes as a major new research and development facility investigating global issues, including the use of AI in healthcare. Article here.
   
• Would you pay for AI-augmented digital health? If you’re an Apple aficionado, you may soon be offered the opportunity. “[W]hat does seem clear is that Apple’s billions of users might well be willing to pay for smart digital health services, and Apple Intelligence could deliver this,” writes Apple expert Jonny Evans at Computerworld. “Based on Apple’s direction of travel in digital health so far, these services would almost certainly focus on preventative health intelligence rather than actual remedies.” Read the whole thing.
   
• You’ve got a friend. Er, make that an AI-spirited ‘Friend.’ For just $99 you can wear a pendant around your neck that will listen in on everything you say or hear, keep you company wherever you go and—like any bestie worth the title—embarrass you from time to time. If you haven’t seen the commercial promoting the device, you must. Then enjoy the cynical reviews Friend has been getting from frenemies in the press. I genially recommend this one and this one.
   
• AI funding news of note:
   
  • Guidehealth closes $14M seed round with strategic investment from Memorial Hermann Health System
     
• From AIin.Healthcare’s news partners:
   
  • Radiology Business: AI model matches radiologists at detecting prostate cancer on MRIs
     
  • Cardiovascular Business: Generative AI explains echo results to heart patients
     
  • Health Imaging: Automated CT-derived markers identify those at higher risk of developing diabetes and other conditions
     
  • Radiology Business: Radiology AI triage solution earns separate, additional Medicare hospital payment
     
  • Cardiovascular Business: Cardiologist to chair new FDA advisory committee focused on AI, other digital health technologies