Now This Article Really Managed To Clarify My Fuzzy Thinking!

This appeared last week:

It really is the knowledge workers who AI will threaten! 

Bankers, lawyers and tech workers most likely to be in AI firing line
By Steve Lohr

February 11, 2024 — 5.08am

A new generation of artificial intelligence is poised to turn old assumptions about technology on their head.

For years, people working in warehouses or fast-food restaurants worried that automation could eliminate their jobs. But new research suggests that generative AI – the kind used in chatbots such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT – will have its biggest impact on white-collar workers with high-paying jobs in industries such as banking and tech.

A report published Thursday by the Burning Glass Institute, a nonprofit research centre, and SHRM (formerly the Society for Human Resource Management), stops short of saying the technology will do away with large numbers of jobs.

But it makes clear that workers need to better prepare for a future in which AI could play a significant role in many workplaces that until now have been largely untouched by technological disruption.

For people in tech, it means they may be building their AI replacements.

“There’s no question the workers who will be impacted most are those with college degrees, and those are the people who always thought they were safe,” said Matt Sigelman, president of the Burning Glass Institute.

Corporations and governments are going to have to seriously invest to get ahead of this.

For hundreds of corporations, the researchers estimated the share of payroll spending that goes to workers employed in the 200 occupations most likely to be affected by generative AI. Many of those jobs are held by affluent college graduates, including business analysts, marketing managers, software developers, database administrators, project managers and lawyers.

Companies in finance, including Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase and Morgan Stanley, have some of the highest percentages of their payrolls likely to be disrupted by generative AI. Not far behind are tech giants like Google, Microsoft and Meta.

Getting AI to do human work could result in big savings for those companies. The research estimates that banks and some tech companies spend 60 to 80 per cent of their payrolls, or more, on workers in occupations most likely to be affected by the new technology.

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The retail, restaurant and transportation industries are least likely to be affected by generative AI, the report found. Companies like Walmart, McDonald’s and Delta Air Lines mostly employ workers without college degrees who perform roles like helping customers, stocking shelves, cooking food and handling baggage. They spend less than 20 per cent of their payrolls on employees in occupations most likely to be affected by generative AI.

The report doesn’t predict potential job losses related to generative AI. That will be up to employers, the report said, and whether they want to bank the savings from AI automation or use that money to invest and grow, adding more workers. Most experts expect that AI will mostly change jobs for the next few years rather than eliminate them – though that could change if the technology improves sharply.

The report highlights the need for increased training to prepare workers to adapt to a fast-arriving technology, SHRM chief executive Johnny C. Taylor Jr. said.

More here:

https://www.smh.com.au/business/workplace/bankers-lawyers-and-tech-workers-most-likely-to-be-in-ai-firing-line-20240208-p5f3gp.html

All I can say here is that it looks like the change will be huge over the next decade or two but the professions that have direct physical contact may be spared until the end when they are replace by robotic docs! Oh dear…

David.

You Can Tell AI Tools Are Working And Useful When The Commercial Hardheads Adopt Ttem

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Meet ChatPwC, the custom-built AI tool being rolled out at the firm

Tess Bennett Technology reporter

Feb 6, 2024 – 2.09pm

PwC Australia has given its 8400 partners and staff access to a custom-built virtual assistant – called ChatPwC – that is capable of formatting data, writing code, summarising meetings and documents, and writing emails.

Following a six-month trial with more than 1000 employees, all local PwC staff will have access to the new generative artificial intelligence tool which the firm hopes will boost productivity and the quality of client work.

Tom Pagram, PwC Australia’s artificial intelligence leader, said ChatPwC was powered by a broad range of AI models – including the ones that underpinned ChatGPT – which were trained to complete specific tasks.

“The model we use for tax might be different from the model that we use within strategy consulting,” he said.

“The generative AI landscape is moving so quickly, quite intentionally, we’re not locking ourselves into any one provider or tool.”

Professional services firms are racing to position themselves as leaders in the new field of generative AI, a technology capable of understanding and creating text, which is widely expected to reshape white-collar work.

Strict guidelines

While PwC has not blocked access to outside tools like ChatGPT, the firm has guidelines in place stating that public chatbots should not be used for business purposes or fed any firm or client data.

“We’ve had really clear and important feedback from staff that they want to be equipped with generative AI tools that they can use for work purposes,” Mr Pagram said.

During the pilot, employees and partners used ChatPwC to prepare for client meetings by conducting specialised research on topics ranging from electricity generation to primary education and superannuation.

Mr Pagram said the goal was to connect more of PwC’s data and systems to generative AI, so the virtual assistant could provide insights on a client, industry and any restrictions the firm had around providing services to them.

“The goal is to have one way for people to get answers to their questions from a really broad range of data sources and systems, rather than having to go to eight separate tools to ask a simple question,” he said.

AI output must be reviewed

Before staff can access the tool they must complete a training program and get up to speed on the firm’s AI rules.

The introduction of generative AI tools means firms will need fewer employees to complete the same amount of work and there will be fewer learning opportunities for junior staff to learn the ropes.

Mr Pagram stressed that humans would be ultimately responsible for any work produced using ChatPwC and all AI output must be “reviewed by a suitably qualified expert”.

More here:

https://www.afr.com/companies/professional-services/meet-chatpwc-the-custom-built-ai-tool-being-rolled-out-at-the-firm-20240202-p5f21q

The big consulting firms are as focussed of profitability and the bottom line as any organisation you can find and it they are deploying the evolving AI toolsets you know the benefits are real and likely to be sustained.

I see my role from this point is merely to document the rate of progress.

David.

I Keep Hoping The Day Will Come As It Would Make Things So Much Easier!

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07 February 2024

To boldly diagnose: day of the tricorder is at hand

By Ivor Campbell

What used to sound like science fiction is becoming technological reality, with implications for general practice.

When two or more people from the world of medical technology meet, talk inevitably turns to the ongoing, yet elusive, search for an industry-standard, multi-disciplinary diagnostic device – the fabled tricorder. 

Fans of Star Trek will recall the small, rectangular gadget with a top-mounted, rotating hood and shoulder strap, routinely carried by Dr Bones McCoy whenever he was beamed down to a new planet. 

Simply by waving it in the general direction of stricken Starship Enterprise crew members, Bones was somehow able to diagnose anything from acute Hutchinson-Gilford Progeria Syndrome to an ingrown toenail. Of course, this was unnecessary for any crew member wearing a red shirt. 

While the Star Trek tricorder remains the stuff of science fiction, diagnostics companies globally continue to beaver away behind the scenes in search of a machine capable of diagnosing the highest number of possible conditions within a single technology. 

Visitors to global conventions like Medica and Medlab – the latter is in Dubai this week – will be aware of the now perennial beauty contest among companies showing off their latest prototypes of devices and software, aimed at facilitating multiple test capabilities. 

A decade ago, Qualcomm, the San Diego-based communications technology company offered a $US10 million prize to anyone who could produce a machine that most closely approximated the tricorder. 

The winner was Final Frontier Medical Devices, based in Paoli, Philadelphia, whose DxtER device was capable of diagnosing 13 conditions by integrating insights from clinical emergency medicine and data analysis from actual patients, using non-invasive sensors to collect vital signs, body chemistry, and biological function data. 

Since then, the march of artificial intelligence has placed booster rockets under existing technologies, to create advances that would have seemed unthinkable only a few years ago. 

Devices such as digital stethoscopes by Clinicloud and Eko Core, and one-channel ECG monitors like WIWE and AliveCor’s Kardia, reveal a focus on making diagnoses faster, more accurate, and convenient.  

The availability of multi-channel ECGs, like the ECG Dongle, and multi-sensor devices such as Viatom Checkme Pro, further demonstrate the evolution of diagnostic capabilities.  

These devices aim to streamline the diagnostic process, providing users with real-time data and promoting communication with smartphones for comprehensive health monitoring.  

Last year a team at the University of California-Santa Cruz announced it had developed a portable gadget that uses a special laser to analyse tiny particles in blood samples, to simultaneously identify multiple viruses, DNA, antibodies, and cancer markers.  

Unlike other chip-based blood test devices that focus on a single target, this technology integrates optics and microfluidic channels on a chip, allowing it to identify various particles with different concentrations.  

The device, which is being commercialised by Fluxus Inc, based in Sunnyvale, California, uses a laser beam to detect particles and adjusts its sensitivity to accurately measure both high and low concentrations.  

The researchers, led by Dr Holger Schmidt, also applied machine learning to enhance accuracy in distinguishing different particle types. The technology is being commercialised by Fluxus Inc. for medical use and holds potential for studying neurodegenerative diseases and paediatric cancers. 

The reason for the industry’s obsession with such devices is because, in the world of medical diagnostics, the pursuit of efficiency has become relentless, particularly since the covid pandemic.  

However, having a fantastic product with brilliant engineering is not enough. Cost-effectiveness and speed are crucial factors that can make or break a diagnostic device and the company behind it and, as demands on public health providers continue to mount, the significance of anything that can save doctors’ time, and the health service money, cannot be overstated.  

An ongoing review of how to triage and treat general practice patients quickly and effectively is under way in many countries around the world. The current model, in which local family doctors’ surgeries are the first port of call for patients, is seen by many people as no longer fit for purpose – not least because they don’t currently operate outside of office hours when more people now want to be seen. 

In future, it is expected that much of the burden of general practice will fall on out-of-hours clinics and local pharmacies, and that cleverer and more versatile diagnostic technologies will play an ever greater role. 

Limited shelf space in pharmacies and in confined consulting rooms creates a demand for ever more compact and multifunctional solutions, hence the search for the tricorder-like devices. 

Yet, while the physical and cost benefits of such devices are clear, there is a growing awareness that they might create new and unintended consequences for medical practitioners. 

In particular there is a recognition of the dilemma GPs face when presented with immediate and potentially life-altering information about a patient’s condition.  

The delicate balance between rapid diagnostics and allowing healthcare professionals the time to carefully analyse and plan treatment is a critical consideration. 

Part of the review’s remit is to find ways to free GPs from dealing with relatively minor and less consequential conditions that they currently spend so much time diagnosing and treating. 

Many countries have a large number of highly qualified pharmacists, with extensive pharmaceutical education, who could contribute significantly to alleviating pressures on local doctors’ surgeries, but whose skills are currently underutilised. 

The lack of automation in pharmacy systems and physical constraints within premises prevent them realising their full diagnostic potential. 

But things are changing. Similar to the evolution of personal computers in recent decades, MedTech is now adapting to this demand. 

The commercialisation of the testing devices is primarily being driven by American computer hardware companies rather than traditional players in the MedTech sector, with growing competition from China and India which are developing an ever more prominent role in the industry, driven by the vast markets and a growing middle-class interest in healthcare. 

…..

Ivor Campbell is chief executive of UK-based Snedden Campbell, a specialist recruitment consultant for the global medical technology industry. 

More here:

https://www.medicalrepublic.com.au/to-boldly-diagnose-day-of-the-tricorder-is-at-hand/104882

It is impressive just how much progress appears to be happening in the technologies we would need for a tricorder!

Clearly there is a shrinking job needed to create a hand-held device but I suspect that in time we will see that issue solved.

Stand by for some exciting announcements in the next few years!

David.

Tell Us Something That We Did Not Already Know! Time To Start Again.....

This appeared last week:

07 February 2024

My Health Record ‘not useful’: Cancer Council

Government Public Health

By Harriet Grayson

The platform is not providing useful data on cancer incidence and services, an inquiry has heard.

My Health Record is not being used for its intended purpose by most health providers in Australia, according to Cancer Council Australia.  

Speaking to a Senate Committee investigating equity barriers for rare cancer patients, Megan Varlow, CCA’s director of cancer control policy, told members that My Health Record was not functioning as a platform for national data collection for cancer organisations, particularly given its lack of appropriate application across the health system.  

“My Health Record isn’t the place that we get data for people who are living and affected by cancer,” she said. 

“Most organisations, clinicians, hospitals, services are not using My Health Record in the way that it’s designed, so it’s not useful.  

“We would be very supportive of increased uptake and use of My Health Record. Right across the system, from primary care through hospitals, aged care, community settings, the use of MHR in the way that it was intended will make a big difference. 

“Seeing that play out in real life is continuing to be a challenge.” 

While cancer organisations benefited from a wealth of data from various data collections, Ms Varlow said a national data framework was vital for streamlining and standardising these collections. 

“We are lucky in that cancer is a notifiable disease in Australia,” she said. 

“The cancer registries in states and territories and the clinical cancer registries that are operated by different organisations and the clinical information that lives within the different clinical trials sets, and the different electronic medical health records across the country, [are] where the data has come from. 

“The idea of a national data framework that really brings all of the different data collections together and implements a national minimum dataset across the country, bringing in genomic and other collections [gathered] at an individual level – that really is what we want to see. 

“That’s one of the actions of the Australian cancer plan, to really see that pulled through.” 

Associate Professor Christopher Steer, medical oncologist at Albury Wodonga Regional Cancer Centre, echoed Ms Varlow’s statements, saying that My Health Record was “not the solution” for improving data collection for rare and less common cancers. 

“My Health Record uptake has been patchy, certainly in the specialists sector,” he  said. 

“It may form part of the solution of what is a complex problem, [but] it is not the solution.” 

As president of Private Cancer Physicians of Australia, Associate Professor Steer said that the organisation would not formally comment on the utility of My Health Record. 

 However, as a private medical oncologist practising in a regional centre, he said he did not think the platform was fit for purpose for standardising cancer data collection across Australia. 

More here:

https://www.medicalrepublic.com.au/my-health-record-not-useful-cancer-council/104901

It really is a pity that the Government will not accept that the myHR is as useful as ‘tits on a bull’ and go back to the clinical community to get help in designing a shared system that would be valuable and useful in supporting clinical practice while facilitating improved clinical data sharing and the full range of possible uses to which digital clinical information can now be used.

It is not beyond the wit of man to design and implement a true national system that should  and could deliver real benefits - but the design and scope of this system will need to be user / clinician driven.

I wonder how long we are going to wait for the leadership  needed to throw out what is done now and move on to design and implement something that will be both useful and used?

Will I see it in my fast running out lifetime? I am not sure at all!

David.