LAS VEGAS — Technology and artificial intelligence (AI) are transforming discovery and treatment for medical breakthroughs but should not replace the human element of care. That was the unanimous view of panelists from some of the nation’s largest healthcare nonprofits during a discussion at the Consumers Electronics Show (CES) here.
The discussion was titled “Mission Driven Innovation: Solving Humanity’s Biggest Challenges,” part of the “CES 2025 Great Minds Series.” The recorded session is available here.
Panelists included: Nancy Brown, CEO of the American Heart Association; Wayne A. I. Frederick, M.D., interim CEO of the American Cancer Society & American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network; Joanne Pike, president and CEO of the Alzheimer’s Association; and, Susannah Schaefer, president and CEO of Smile Train.
The session was moderated by Gretchen Littlefield, CEO of direct response and technology firm Moore. “It is crucial that we have this conversation right now. At CES this week, incredible announcements about innovations with AI have been made. But how will those advancements help society at large and those in need?,” she asked rhetorically.
The panelists spoke of how technology is not just changing treatment but how large language models (LLMs) are helping to find genetic patterns that will help researchers get down to the biology of why a disease will form and then progresses.
Pike explained that the Alzheimer’s Association was key to bringing three U.S. Food and Drug Administration-approved treatments to patients. She stressed how it is important to get to the underlying biology so patients can spend more time in prevention and less time in treatment.
All of the panelists spoke about how technology and AI can help find cures and treatments. Equally important, they agreed, is teaching what the data means, how physicians can make better decisions, and hone their medical skills based on the new information.
Frederick explained that decisions will be different if a one-centimeter lesion is found in a 4-foot, 11-inch female than in a 6-foot male. Data helps physicians to make important decisions on attacking those lesions. The technology for many prostate cancers, he explained, is surgery via robotics and a two-week hospital stay is now one or two days.
“Technology is in our DNA,” said Schaefer of Smile Train. The organization’s founder, Charles Wang, was also founder of tech firm Computer Associates. Since there is no known cause of cleft palate, the situation must be remediated via surgery and that’s where tech and AI development is key to training surgeons. The organization has data on every patient for the past 25 years and that informs the surgery.
Brown explained “there won’t come a day when the human touch” won’t be a vital element to patient care. The key is getting information in the many clinical guidelines the organization has developed with its partners into physicians’ hands.
She also spoke about ethical guidelines of AI use. There is a board committee looking at ethical frameworks of AI use. AHA has 186 research projects working with AI and the organization has put $12 million behind three centers of excellence.
Looking forward, Brown said “I am very optimistic, very bullish.” She warned that with the systems “data in is data out” and it is vital the data is representative of all categories of potential patients.
Frederick, too, is enthusiastic about the future of discovery, implementation and the next generation of leaders. “I’m optimistic about our youth and future. … A lot of it is they have tools they are going to use well and more information about people they will never meet, therefore they have developed an empathy that we can all benefit from.”
