Robots at work on factory floors are already offering a glimpse of the potential of artificial intelligence to disrupt local industries.
While manufacturers wrestle with the promise of improved production and efficiency versus the effects of a shrinking workforce, another local industry is poised to test AI’s capacity to improve human health.
As this week’s cover story reports, Rhode Island’s compact and collaborative health care and education systems are a testing ground for potentially revolutionary advancements.
Aidan Petrie, managing partner at Providence-based New England Medical Innovation Center, says there are dozens of medical technology startups in the local pipeline.
They were drawn in part by the close proximity of top colleges and local health systems, he says.
“That does not exist anywhere else … [in] such a concentration,” he said.
Local providers and insurers are already using North Kingstown’s DeLorean Artificial Intelligence to help to sort and analyze medical data.
Some local providers want to see more research on AI’s ability to protect data privacy before diving in, but they are even using it to ease administrative workloads and protect doctors from burnout.
Dr. Gaurav Choudhary, director of cardiovascular research at Brown University’s Warren Alpert Medical School, expects AI to play an increasing role in how doctors diagnose illnesses.
But like AI in any other industry, people must stay in control.
“The human relationship between a physician and patient will always” be needed, he said.