How AI is changing care, and how it’s not

The ideas and innovators shaping health care

Aug 23, 2023 View in browser   By Carmen Paun, Evan Peng, Erin Schumaker and Daniel Payne PROGRAMMING NOTE: Future Pulse won’t publish from Monday, Aug. 28, to Monday, Sept. 4. We’ll be back in your inbox on Tuesday, Sept. 5. TECH MAZE Minor says AI still has a ways to go in medicine. | Stanford University Dr. Lloyd B. Minor, dean of the Stanford University School of Medicine, is a leading advocate for using technology to make health care more precise. Minor’s tenure has seen Stanford Medicine develop a focus on personalized, preventive health care and launch a new initiative on responsible artificial intelligence in health care. He also hosts a podcast called The Minor Consult. He spoke with POLITICO’s Digital Future Daily about the rise of predictive medicine and how AI in health care is both overhyped and underhyped. The interview has been edited for length and clarity. What’s one underrated big idea? The idea of prediction and prevention and early detection. In the United States, we have an amazing sick care system. We’ve pioneered major advances in transplantation surgery, ultra complex procedures for advanced heart disease, advanced cancer. But we don’t do a very good job of predicting and preventing disease or diagnosing it early. That’s a real opportunity. It should be possible for each of us to have a much more accurate profile of our propensity for disease and know what type of screening we need to undergo based upon our profile. What’s a technology you think is overhyped?  The application of AI in medicine is both overhyped in terms of some of its immediate effects and underhyped in terms of its long-term effects. In the longer term, I think generative AI models are going to become more and more accurate. Already today, they are helping physicians to supplement our medical knowledge — knowledge of complex diseases that occur rarely, that even the experts in a narrow field don’t carry around in their head. An example of overhyping would be saying that AI is going to somehow eliminate fields of medicine or radically change the way health care is practiced over a short period of time. What could government be doing that it isn’t? Polls have shown that people today, understandably, are deeply skeptical about the application of AI to health and health care delivery because of the potential for doing real harm. But the polls also indicate that we need to have much more of a dialogue with the public about the status of AI today — particularly generative AI. Where’s it going in the future? How do we develop responsible ways of oversight regulation and compliance? Government plays a really important role in being a convener of these dialogues.   A NEW PODCAST FROM POLITICO: Our new POLITICO Tech podcast is your daily download on the disruption that technology is bringing to politics and policy around the world. From AI and the metaverse to disinformation and cybersecurity, POLITICO Tech explores how today’s technology is shaping our world — and driving the policy decisions, innovations and industries that will matter tomorrow. SUBSCRIBE AND START LISTENING TODAY.     WELCOME TO FUTURE PULSE Covehead Bay, Prince Edward Island, Canada | Shawn Zeller This is where we explore the ideas and innovators shaping health care. Here's one health hazard we didn’t foresee: Kissing or cuddling your turtle could give you salmonella. The CDC warned against expressing affection for your pets with such gestures after more than two dozen people across 11 states got sick, ABC News reports. Share any thoughts, news, tips and feedback with Carmen Paun at cpaun@politico.com, Daniel Payne at dpayne@politico.com, Evan Peng at epeng@politico.com or Erin Schumaker at eschumaker@politico.com. Send tips securely through SecureDrop, Signal, Telegram or WhatsApp. Today on our Pulse Check podcast, host Chelsea Cirruzzo talks with Lauren Gardner about why some consumer advocates are calling for the FDA to update standards for prescription drug marketing on social media, where the line between personal endorsement and sponsored content can blur. Listen to today’s Pulse Check podcast CHECKUP ChatGPT still has a lot to learn, a new study found. | Richard Drew/AP Photo ChatGPT isn’t ready to replace your doctor just yet. The artificial intelligence chatbot, which incorporates reams of data to respond to questions, struggles with “the meat and potatoes of medicine,” researchers at Mass General Brigham found in a new study published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research. After presenting the bot with various clinical scenarios, they found it had difficulty narrowing the list of possible diagnoses when given only initial patient and symptom information. They gave it a 60 percent mark in that category. “[I]t tells us where physicians are truly experts and adding the most value — in the early stages of patient care,” said Dr. Marc Succi, a radiologist and the lead researcher, in a release. ChatGPT’s other grades were mediocre. The researchers found it was: — 72 percent accurate overall — 77 percent accurate in making final diagnoses — 68 percent accurate in prescribing medication or other treatments “We estimate this performance to be at the level of someone who has just graduated from medical school, such as an intern or resident,” said Succi.   DON’T MISS POLITICO’S TECH & AI SUMMIT: America’s ability to lead and champion emerging innovations in technology like generative AI will shape our industries, manufacturing base and future economy. Do we have the right policies in place to secure that future? How will the U.S. retain its status as the global tech leader? Join POLITICO on Sept. 27 for our Tech & AI Summit to hear what the public and private sectors need to do to sharpen our competitive edge amidst rising global competitors and rapidly evolving disruptive technologies. REGISTER HERE.     POLICY PUZZLE Republicans say water rates could spike if President Biden increases regulation of PFAS chemicals. | Getty Images The Biden administration’s plan to designate “forever chemicals” as hazardous under the nation’s principal law governing the cleanup of toxic waste sites is causing headaches for Democrats on Capitol Hill, POLITICO’s Annie Snider reports. How so? The chemicals, per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances known as PFAS have widespread commercial applications and have circulated for years. The CDC says their presence in people’s blood is linked to cancer, reduced vaccine effectiveness, increased cholesterol levels and other ill health effects. Democrats have championed new regulation, but Biden’s move — expected next year — will put constituent businesses such as wastewater utilities, farms, airports and oil refineries that use products containing the chemicals at risk of liability. The clean-up law, known as Superfund, permits litigation against parties that fouled the land. Fight on the Hill: Republicans, led by Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), have introduced five bills to give unwitting polluters immunity from lawsuits, saying to do otherwise would drive up water and gas prices. But environmental groups have come out in force against any such legislation, fearing it could weaken the Superfund law. They argue the law already allows federal regulators to shield parties from financial liability and the Biden EPA has already pledged to protect utilities. Moreover, they say Republicans’ proposal is too broad and would prevent action against water utilities or other entities even if they acted irresponsibly. In the middle: Senate Democrats are sympathetic to constituent business’ concerns, according to the businesses’ lobbyists, and seek a way to offer narrow liability protections.   Follow us on Twitter Carmen Paun @carmenpaun Daniel Payne @_daniel_payne Ruth Reader @RuthReader Erin Schumaker @erinlschumaker Evan Peng @thepngfile   Follow us

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