Exploring the Future: Artificial Intelligence in HealthTech - A Professor's Perspective

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is revolutionizing the healthcare industry, offering unprecedented opportunities for innovation and improved patient care and outcomes. Our guest of honor for this blog edition, Dr. John Licato from USF, is constantly amazed by the advancements in this field and the potential it holds for the future of healthcare - as a professor and entrepreneur specializing in both artificial intelligence and natural language learning (NLP).

As an expert in this field, he has delved deep into the key areas where AI and NLP are making a significant impact on HealthTech. Today, we will explore some of the most common questions asked. And, perhaps, understand a bit better what this new tool can offer stakeholders in this field.  

A Conversation Generated by Artificial Intelligence

To start off, I took this exciting opportunity to Dr. John, as always, he promptly offered his knowledge and support to our new blog - which will continue to focus on the advancements of HealthTech within the U.S and globally. 

Next, I developed a questionnaire with the help of AI on this valuable issue - that a lot of us are still trying to wrap our heads around - for Professor Licato to pick and choose from. I utilized Microsoft Copilot 4.0 and without further due it is time to dive right into the expertise with human reasoning ladies & gentlemen!

Challenges and Ethical Considerations: An Open Conversation

How can AI models be designed to achieve reasoning capabilities similar to human cognition?
By paying attention to the diversity of human reasoning modes. I think in current AI, there is an emphasis on trying to make our best models better at problem solving, more logic-oriented, more homogenous. But we need to remember that humans aren't perfect logical calculators---our reasoning can be messy! Much of our day-to-day reason is governed by System 1 / Type 1 processes (using a distinction from cognitive science), which are quick heuristics that often shortcut our reasoning. And furthermore, those System 1 processes may differ from person to person, or from culture to culture. But perhaps most importantly: it's our System 1 processes that may explain why we can be so vulnerable to propaganda, misinformation, confirmation bias, and so on. So it's important to understand how to properly model System 1 reasoning. In my lab, we're working on an NSF-funded project to do just that.

What role does NLP play in improving clinical decision-making and patient outcomes?
Many researchers believe that System 1 processes are responsible for a lot of the biases and mistakes made in clinical decision-making. If we can use NLP (and AI in general) to not only recognize when these sorts of mistakes are being made but make suggestions to correct them, I think we can significantly improve patient outcomes. 

In your opinion, can artificial general intelligence (AGI) ever experience emotions or consciousness?
Yes. And I'm going to assume here that it is possible to come up with definitions of what it "truly" means to experience emotions or be conscious, that are practically operationalizable. In other words, there exists a definition that allows us to design an experiment that will successfully distinguish between an agent that can or cannot experience emotions. A lot of what some philosophers say about "qualia" postulates the existence of a practically immeasurable feature of conscious beings that makes it effectively useless as a concept, so it's not even worth talking about here. In short: every observable and objectively measurable property of consciousness has been something that either has been achieved by AI already, or is likely to be achieved soon.

Dr. John Licato, thank you so much for your invaluable input and expertise. To follow his work with USF and his startup plus further connect with him follow on LinkedIn (link below). Also, take a listen to his newest podcast series on this relevant topic that is discussed between professors in depth on a regular basis.

The Future of AI in HealthTech

Looking ahead, the future of AI in HealthTech and beyond is incredibly promising. From predictive analytics to robotic surgery to its first official solo flight - that took place a couple of days ago - AI has the potential to transform every aspect of healthcare delivery and improve patient outcomes.

As a cofounder in the HealthTech field,  I am excited to see how AI continues to shape the future of healthcare and empower healthcare personnel and patients to provide personalized, efficient, and effective care to patients around the world.

Stay tuned for more updates on the latest advancements in Artificial Intelligence in HealthTech!

Dr. John Licato's LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-licato