Industry Watcher’s Digest

Buzzworthy developments of the past few days.

• Generative AI’s economic potential is somewhere between immense and unlimited. Yes, of course. But how big is it, really? Big enough that some analysts expect it to augment the impact of AI overall to the tune of “trillions of dollars of additional value each year.” That’s from a little consulting shop known by one name—McKinsey. The global firm’s digital unit fleshes out the sky’s-the-limit forecast in an in-depth report released June 14.
   
• One of the hardest parts of conducting clinical trials is enrolling the right patients. AI should be able to help with that. The Center for Connected Medicine outlines the challenges, chances and researcher readiness for an assist from AI in a new report presenting input from 58 healthcare executives. KLAS Research had a hand in compiling the report, which is available in full for free.
   
• The nonprofit Partnership on AI has enlisted Meta and Microsoft to help advance responsible practices in generative AI. The specific work to which the Big Tech twosome will contribute is PAI’s framework for collective action called Responsible Practices for Synthetic Media. In this usage, “synthetic” is a smoother way to say “AI-generated.” Announcement here.
   
• A like-minded effort is underway at Stanford. There the medical school is working with the Stanford Institute for Human-Centered AI to launch and run an initiative called RAISE-Health (for Responsible AI for Safe and Equitable Health). Med-school dean Lloyd Minor, MD, says the project is needed because AI “has the potential to impact every aspect of health and medicine.”
   
• Organizations are lately finding that deploying AI requires staffing up or retraining for AI-specific skills. They’re also buying into the promise of AI but struggling to scale the technology across their respective enterprises. Those are two key findings in an MIT Technology Review Insights report issued in conjunction with JPMorgan Chase. Another: Some 73% of companies worth $500 billion or better name “finding use cases” as their highest hurdle to clear on the road to AI deployment. Read the report.
   
• In cancer care, AI is a welcome source of valuable insights. But please leave the actual decision-making to humans. That’s a paraphrase of a conclusion arrived at by two strategic researchers with Cardinal Health. Summarizing their findings June 12 in Pharmacy Times, the authors describe a project in which a large community practice armed with augmented intelligence realized an 18% reduction in monthly ER visits, a 13% decline in quarterly hospital admissions and a potential annual savings of $2.8 million. Summary article here.
   
• Robotic arms are more precise than the human hand, and AI will ultimately take over this role. However, it’s more challenging to train a robot surgeon than a human one. That’s the wry observation of investor and entrepreneur Robert Strzelecki in an opinion piece published June 9 in Forbes. “We have a fantastic tool in our hands,” he writes. “As with any device, we can do a lot of good with AI but also a lot of harm. Its further fate depends on us—people.”
   
• In a time of staffing shortages across healthcare, calculating rates to pay shift workers can’t be easy. A healthtech startup is looking to help providers with the challenge while carving out a niche for itself. The company, CareRev of Venice, Calif., announced what it calls the first AI-based shift pricing system June 13. According to the company, the product can cut labor costs by 18% and fill shifts 50% faster.  
   
• The American Medical Association is calling for tight regulatory oversight of AI as used by payers for prior authorizations and claims reviews. In announcing the focused advocacy, AMA cited one insurer’s boast about using the technology to make “fast, efficient and streamlined coverage decisions.” Meanwhile the association has declared its intent to offer AI guidelines for patients as well as providers. AMA trustee Alexander Ding, MD: “We are entering this brave new world with our eyes wide open and our minds engaged.”