Industry Watcher’s Digest

Buzzworthy developments of the past few days.

• Remember the Kaiser Permanente nurses who denounced healthcare AI? They weren’t speaking out against all of it, just the algorithms that would compromise care quality in order to favor other priorities. Steadied by the courage of their convictions, they’re reiterating their point. Cathy Kennedy, president of the California Nurses Association and a nurse at Kaiser for 40 years, comments on a model that screens messages sent from patients to professionals, the aim being to determine the urgency of each message’s concern. “This is an extremely inappropriate use of technology,” Kennedy tells the San Francisco Examiner. “The computer algorithm clearly is being used in place of a triage nurse.” Kaiser leadership defends its use of clinical AI and signals it won’t be backing down any time soon. “We have consistently invested in and embraced technology that enables nurses to work more effectively, resulting in improved patient outcomes and nurse satisfaction,” a Kaiser spokesperson says. “And we will continue to do so.”
   
• Think of healthcare AI as a tortoise, not a hare. It’s likely to advance slowly but steadily, with occasional sprints forward and stumbles back. Kind of like the internet when it ended up winning over the world after getting off to an uncertain start in the 1990s. If you were there you probably recall the competing predictions between believers and skeptics. Anyway, Devin Jopp, EdD, offers the advice to remain similarly patient by way of reviewing the promises and pitfalls of healthcare AI for Fast Company. “To successfully harness the power of AI, healthcare leaders must evaluate real-world use cases and demonstrate how it can help the organization meet the triple aim of improving the experience of care, improving the health of populations and reducing per capita costs of healthcare,” writes Jopp, who was CIO at the Health Insurance Association of America in the ’90s and is now CEO of the Association for Professionals in Infection Control & Epidemiology. “While it’s hard to see exactly what the crystal ball holds for AI,” he adds, “the adoption of the internet probably holds a few clues on what’s likely ahead.”
   
• HHS is looking to award $2 million to healthcare tech developers. Half of that will go to someone who shows they can lift the quality of data for algorithm training and validation in healthcare generally. The other half will resource an innovator who has what it takes to improve IT capabilities for, specifically, behavioral health. Someone spring to mind for either or both? Forward them the announcement or the official Notice of Funding Opportunity.
   
• Healthcare AI with nationwide reach grabs a lot of attention. How much? Enough to obscure outstanding adoptions taking place on a smaller scale. Here’s a reminder from the heartland that all care is local to those who provide it. “[M]ost of us are working to wrap our arms around the various technologies that are available,” says Diane Hunt, MD, chief health information officer for Deaconess Health System in Evansville, Indiana. “It’s a field with seemingly limitless possibilities, and many of us believe that this is the beginning of a technology revolution in healthcare—one that will ultimately help us improve the care we provide to our patients in ways we never knew possible.” Hunt’s quote is one of a handful given by Hoosier health leaders to BuildingIndiana.com. Read the rest.
   
• ChatGPT is growing up fast. The latest milestone in its development is the release of a new model, ChatGPT 4o. That’s not a typo after the 4. It’s a lower-case o standing for omni. The name reflects the tech’s facility for reasoning across voice, text and vision, OpenAI CTO Mira Murati explained in a streamed presentation May 13. For end users, this means interacting with the 4o chatbot in a very humanlike way. As described by tech reporter Dave LeClair of Tom’s Guide, the bot’s performance may skirt uncomfortably close to the Uncanny Valley. Not only will Chat GPT 4o sing to you, but it also “seemed to get emotional when it was told the hosts loved it, which was both cool and creepy.”
   
• Large language GenAI models may portend the eventual end of internet search engines. If so, don’t expect Google to go down without a fight. The scenario is worth thinking through, though, because OpenAI’s announcement of ChatGPT 4o is only the start of Big Tech’s unveiling season. Axios tech watchers Scott Rosenberg and Ina Fried break down what to look for before predicting: “The next four weeks will clarify how AI’s competitive struggle will play out over the next two years, determining how billions will be spent, which new products will catch fire or fizzle out, and who will ultimately control an AI-powered tech industry.”
   
• America’s technology protection policies are not up for negotiation. So asserts a State Department official as representatives from the U.S. and China meet in Geneva this week on AI. The two countries “certainly don't see eye to eye on many AI topics and applications,” a second State Department official tells Reuters. However, “we believe that communication on critical AI risks can make the world safer.” Among the topics the American delegation is likely to raise: Can’t China agree that only humans should ever make decisions on deploying nuclear weapons?
   
• Biased? Who’s biased? We’re not biased. Here’s an East Coast-West Coast battle worth a Post-It note on the office bulletin board—at least until the war’s outcome is settled. The Wall Street Journal: “AI startups are making their home in New York City. Can they turn it into an AI powerhouse?” Crunchbase News: “The San Francisco Bay Area has become the undisputed leader in AI tech and funding dollars.” Sounds like DingDingDingDing at ringside to me.
   
• Funding news of note:
   
  • Elon Musk’s xAI could be valued at more than $20B after heavy demand in first funding round: sources (New York Post)
     
  • Macron touts €15 billion of overseas investments in France (Bloomberg)
     
  • Holistic AI, founded by DeepMind alumni, secures $200M in funding (Silicon Valley Journals)