A UVA Health data science team is one of seven finalists in a national competition to improve healthcare with the help of artificial intelligence. UVA's proposal was selected as a finalist from among more than 300 applicants in the first-ever Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Artificial Intelligence Health Outcomes Challenge. UVA's project predicts which patients are at risk for adverse outcomes and then suggests a personalized plan to ensure appropriate healthcare delivery and avoid unnecessary hospitalizations. CMS selected the seven finalists after reviewing the accuracy of their artificial intelligence models and evaluating how well healthcare providers could use visual displays created by each project team to improve outcomes and patient care. Each team of finalists received $60,000 and will compete for a grand prize of up to $1 million.

In 1714, the British Parliament passed the Longitude Act, which offered serious money to anyone who could devise a practical method to measure longitude at sea. While the determination of longitude might seem a trivial thing in today's world of smartphones and GPS satellites, at the time it was an immense technical challenge. It took many years, but the strategy worked, leading to the development of the marine chronometer, a handheld mechanical marvel that undoubtedly saved the lives of countless sailors. Prizes have, of course, since been used to spur innovation in many other spheres. "These were typically offered by governments," says Josh Lerner of the Harvard Business School, who has studied the effectiveness of such prizes.

The field of artificial intelligence is already one of the busiest in all of computer science -- or really, the tech industry as a whole. And it's about to get busier. This week, IBM and XPRIZE announced a global competition inviting tech teams to develop new and innovative A.I. systems for the benefit of all mankind. You know -- our species. At stake: $5 million in prize money and more high-bandwidth publicity than you can shake a neural network at.