IBM Watson manager, academics describe challenges, potential of healthcare AI

Last week, hundreds of digital health entrepreneurs, investors, and executives met in Boston for the annual Digital Healthcare Innovation Summit. Among the more frequently discussed trends and technologies was artificial intelligence -- its promise, its stumbles, and how it should be implemented to best serve healthcare. "I started marketing Watson for Oncology in January of 2016. I'm almost approaching two years," Deborah DiSanzo, general manager at IBM Watson Health, said during a session. "By the end of this year, I will have over 20,000 patients [and] over 120 hospitals using it, and really seeing helping oncologists all over the world. Nothing that I have done in my life in healthcare technology has gone as fast as that, and that is not hype."