How Aggressive AI Adoption Could Harm Healthcare Industry

Many health organizations lack the capabilities needed to ensure that their artificial intelligence (AI) and Internet of Things (IoT) systems act accurately, responsibly, and transparently, according to a new study. Accenture's Digital Health Technology Vision 2018 report identified a range of issues related to the aggressive adoption of AI and the greater role it plays in healthcare decision making, and counseled the need for organizations to instill trust and transparency into the design of their technology systems. The study also explored five trends facing healthcare over the next three years as technology becomes an intrinsic part of care delivery. "We see these technology trends in two categories--'enablers' and'consequences' (the first three being'enablers' and the last two'consequences')--as emerging technologies enable the system to help people in new ways but also introduce new issues as technology becomes deeply intertwined in our lives and in our care," says Kaveh Safavi, MD, JD, head of Accenture's global health practice. Some of the report's most interesting findings focus on the consequences of the greater role that technology--particularly intelligent technology such as AI--plays in healthcare decision making.