By now, everyone understands the potential of AI in healthcare, especially in our fight against COVID-19. But because of the nature of the emerging technology, it has also thrown up some major questions that no single tech or healthcare provider can solve on their own.
So, Microsoft is bringing together leading public, private, educational and research organizations across the U.S. healthcare and life sciences industries to form the Artificial Intelligence Industry Innovation Coalition (AI3C).
The coalition list includes the top names from healthcare and technology, including Brookings Institution, Cleveland Clinic, Duke Health, Intermountain Healthcare, Novant Health, Plug and Play, Providence, UC San Diego, and the University of Virginia.
We at Providence feel that the responsible and equitable implementation of AI will be a critical element of healthcare transformation [to] achieve our vision of Health for a Better World. We applaud Microsoft for bringing this coalition together and are excited to partner with these esteemed institutions to drive progress on how AI can be a force multiplier for good in healthcare,said Brett MacLaren, chief data officer at Providence.
AI3C will provide recommendations and advice on a wide array of AI topics, including responsible healthcare innovation, health equity, and workforce transformation to reduce clinical fatigue.
The goal of the newly created AI3C is to establish a pragmatic coalition with public and private organizations to advance health by identifying and addressing significant societal and industry barriers, said Patty Obermaier, vice president at U.S. health and life sciences at Microsoft.
I am excited about the launch of AI3C and working with its distinguished board as we continue the momentum toward serving the needs of patients and communities through AI innovation, she added.
Every organization will appoint volunteer senior executives for The AI3C board. Acting as advisors, they will co-create AI solutions for positive societal and healthcare outcomes, identify and set the AI strategy and vision for a variety of projects, and track the success of AI adoption in the industry, said the announcement. All members will also have an equal voice in how the coalition operates and is governed.
As the role of AI continues to grow in our society and economy, this community of independent scientists would be a conduit between healthcare industry and technology companies, academia, policymakers, and the general public, ensuring faster development of AI solutions and smoother adoption of such technologies by end-users,said Niam Yaraghi, a nonresident senior fellow at The Brookings Institution.
The AI3C intends to apply AI to resolve the economic and industrial challenges, including research transfer, industry standards, and funding instruments, and addressing digital skills and employabilityissues facing the industry, including organizational and cultural challenges, as well as labor policies. Another area the coalition will examine is data privacy, especially regarding data access and sharing innovation.
By focusing on these areas, the AI3C is looking to speed up AI innovation in healthcare by:
Historically, it has taken up to 17 years from the inception of an idea to the market introduction of a novel therapy. The COVID-19 pandemic made it very clear this is too long. We need to shrink that, and advancing AI can help us accelerate research as historical computational limitations of storage, handling, and analyzing data have not been equipped to handle the volumes of data we now generate. The potential for AI use in clinical research is immense. It will enable us to ask questions in new ways, speed discovery, and begin individualizing medicine,said Matthew Kull, chief information officer, The Cleveland Clinic.
AI3C members will focus on providing a comprehensive program for responsible AI education and upskilling to meet these goals. It will also engage with the healthcare community through white papers, new tools and programs, and social media outreach to make AI more applicable and impactful. Quarterly meetings and events will transparently communicate the resolution and progress of solving critical challenges through AI adoption.
Meeting the urgent need for new health technologies requires diverse partners coming together across sectors. With perspectives from AI practitioners, healthcare professionals, and the research community, the AI3C can guide collaborative projects that accelerate the translation of frontier technologies from research to solution development, to implementation, said Ashley Llorens, vice president and managing director, Microsoft Research and Incubations.
The AI3C is following in the footsteps of theNational Coalition for Artificial Intelligence in Financial Services, which was launched in December 2020.
AI has enormous potential to advance health care through improvements in the treatment and prevention of disease. I am particularly excited to explore the ways AI can be used to improve health equity and ensure everyone has access to the latest advances in machine learning-enabled diagnostics and clinical assessments,said Donald E. Brown, senior associate Dean at the University of Virginia.
More details about AI3Cs programs and impact will be available later this year.
Image credit: iStockphoto/gorodenkoff
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Microsoft Brings Together Tech, Healthcare Giants To Answer Hard AI Questions - CDOTrends
