By derekStreat

An AI competition at the Department of Veterans Affairs offers a great example of how Biden's order can be inclusive and ignite a market

It's a global sprint to codify regulatory guardrails for Artificial Intelligence (AI). Bias, security, job displacement and economic control are just some of the risks that come with transformational leaps in technology. And yet, what possibilities in AI-driven healthcare, in particular, risk never reaching their potential if over-burdensome regulation stifles their growth?

President Biden's executive order on "safe, secure and trustworthy" AI is a laudable framework, establishing sensible guidelines to protect American interests. The order is also a necessary step to make AI a central pathway to improve healthcare in our country. And the hurdles we face are steep.

For instance, suicide ranks as the second-leading cause of death among veterans, a stark reminder of the urgency for greater mental health access to our heroes in uniform. The average American waits 26 days to see a doctor. And we have a workforce crisis, as doctors and nurses cut back hours or drop out of the profession altogether.

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As we look over the horizon, AI is poised to unravel the complexity that hinders health systems from delivering exceptional care to every American. But before we reach a steady state of AI -- the advanced capabilities and societal harmony we all picture -- the right technologies must prevail.

With more than 14,000 AI companies in the U.S., we don't yet know the technology nor the applications that will ultimately win out. And therein lies the rub -- weighing the risks of AI, while not stifling ingenuity.

Overreaching measures and broad regulatory oversight put companies at risk. While Amazon(AMZN), Microsoft(MSFT) and Google parent Alphabet(GOOGL) have legal armies and billions in the bank, it's the emerging growth companies and the ideas sparked in dim-lit garages that will suffer.

Biden and future administrations must heed the adage to regulate with a feather and not a hammer to level the playing field, while safeguarding national interests.

The CEO of Suki AI warns that "it's imperative to have industry representation in these committees and task forces that are representative of the vibrant startup AI ecosystem, not just those who can afford lobbying power."

He's right and goes on to argue that detailed guidance on usage, infrastructure and data are necessary to address bias, leakage and to mitigate risks. And with universal standards, we create an impartial arena to prevent corporations from political capture and market control.

Administrative work consumes one-sixth of a doctor's working hours and contributes to burnout and a dwindling workforce that can't keep up with America's aging population.

We're now inventing what AI will become, and the government must preserve the pioneering spirit that undergirds American exceptionalism.

In fact, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) offers a great example of how Biden's order can be both inclusive and ignite a market. On the heels of the executive order, the VA launched a $1million AI tech competition to reduce workforce burnout in healthcare. Calling upon apps, ideas, algorithms and the entire AI-value chain, the competition unifies the industry to solve for a common good.

Clearly, the competition comes at the right time. Today, the VA delivers more care and benefits to more veterans than ever before. Unfortunately, administrative work consumes one-sixth of a doctor's working hours and contributes to burnout and a dwindling workforce that can't keep up with America's aging population. Paperwork isn't why doctors and nurses pursued medicine.

The tech sprint also outlines a welcome and narrow scope.

Participants are asked to focus on two main areas: the development of ambient dictation solutions to transcribe patient visits, and AI-ingestion systems that can harmonize massive datasets, from care records to complex medical documents. In essence, how can AI tear up the paperwork to let doctors get back to caring for people?

The implications of data fidelity and aggregation are non-trivial. In healthcare -- an industry beset by data isolation -- the analytics of care is more important than ever. Generative AI will crowdsource and create life-saving data linkages that pull from patient records, population disparities, and propensity models to better diagnose, treat and cure.

AI will break archaic models and refocus healthcare back to the consumer.

Collaboration multiplies success, and Biden's order calls upon our nation's largest healthcare systems in the first 90 days to help shape regulatory action.

Three top officials, including Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) Xavier Becerra, VA Secretary Denis McDonough, and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, have been directed to create an HHS AI Task Force. Twelve months later, the task force will outline a plan that informs the responsible "deployment and use of AI and AI-enabled technologies in the health and human services sector."

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The challenges healthcare faces are daunting. But the arrival of AI will break archaic models and refocus healthcare back to the consumer, who demands greater access to care.

We're all amazed by ChatGPT. But what's to come will transform our lives and reshape how we manage our personal wellness. While the White House is right to promote the ethical use of AI, we must also protect the pace of innovation to ensure every American has access to the best care to prevent and cure illness.

We don't yet know the name of the moonshot technology, but we can't alter its trajectory either.

Derek Streat is CEO of DexCare, a healthcare software company that helps patients find their best-fit care options.

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11-17-23 1819ET

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Biden must preserve the AI moonshot. U.S. healthcare depends on it. - Morningstar