AI in healthcare: separating myth from reality

At the HIMSS Machine Learning & AI event, Dr. Anthony Chang, chief intelligence and innovation officer at CHOC Children’s, cleared up some common misconceptions. BOSTON – The excitement around artificial intelligence is genuine. The promise and potential of what it can do for healthcare is very real. But there’s still a lot of unrealistic expectation of what AI and machine learning will mean for care delivery, said Dr. Anthony Chang.

Chang, chief intelligence and innovation officer at Children’s Hospital and Orange County, delivered the Day 2 keynote address at the HIMSS Machine Learning & AI for Healthcare event here in Boston.

There’s already a lot going on with the technology in hospitals, as evidenced by the numerous case studies presented here these past two days. But Chang said the best is yet to come for AI in healthcare.

He pointed to Amara’s Law: “We tend to overestimate the effect of a technology in the short run and underestimate the effect in the long run.”

When it comes to AI and machine learning, many in healthcare are “anxious … waiting for a lot of delivery right now,” said Chang. “But if we can just hang in for a few years,” the benefits will be immense.