BenefitsPRO Broker Expo preview: Artificial Intelligence is the future (whether you like it or not!)
We hear people talk about AI all the time, but what really is it? And how does it apply to benefits?
It’s the year 2035, sentient robots are taking over the world, and where is Will Smith to stop them/? This is the plot of the 2004 movie I, Robot, where robot cops are conspiring to enslave the human race and take over the world.
This is a fear that some hold when the words artificial intelligence (AI) are brought up. AI has become a boogeyman that no one wants to talk or hear about, but AI is making our world better by creating groundbreaking opportunities and improving health on a daily basis.
Related: New frontier: Artificial intelligence offers opportunities for brokers
Before exploring the undeniable ways AI is improving health, let’s acknowledge that it’s already a part of your life in many aspects. Any time you use a search engine on your phone or computer, AI is at work displaying the most accurate results based on your keywords, as well as previously gathered knowledge about you, your search history, and your location. AI is why two people who search the same keywords on their phones will see two different lists of results. AI is used to recommend shows and movies on your streaming apps and songs on your music apps. But it’s not all rainbows and pink unicorns; AI is also behind those annoying, targeted ads you see on your social media platforms as well.
Be sure to check out Ben Winfield’s administration session, “Data-driven decision making,” at the BenefitsPRO Broker Expo on May 23 at 3:30 p.m.
We hear people talk about AI all the time, but what really is it? If you ask a coder, you will hear it is the use of complex algorithms to emulate human cognition in the analysis, interpretation and comprehension of data. In normal human talk, AI is any technique that enables computers to mimic human behavior. For example, if you told your friend you hate horror movies but love comedies, and a week later ask your friend to pick out the movie to watch together, they would use the information you previously shared, avoid a horror movie and maybe suggest the comedy Free Guy.
Simply put, AI works by using inputs to determine the best outcomes. The first step when you use a streaming service is to ask you some simple questions and then recommend shows based on those inputs. This is the foundation of understanding how AI works but thankfully, it doesn’t stop there.
To truly understand how AI works on a larger scale, like improving health with a predictive analytics or health monitoring platform, you need to know two more subfields: machine learning and deep learning. Machine learning uses statistical methods to enable machines to improve with experiences, even without directly providing inputs. If your friend recommends comedy movies and over time realizes you always pass on movies with Will Ferrell, then even though you never specifically said to avoid those movies, your friend (and AI) would learn from the pattern in your behavior and stop recommending. Machine learning is like a good friendship; it gets better with time and more information.
Deep learning is a further subfield that creates a network of machine learning concepts to share information and quickly learn and improve decisions and recommendations. Deep learning was inspired by the structure of the human brain and its neurons. In our streaming app example, deep learning would be like combining multiple profiles for predictions. If you, who likes comedies, were going to watch a movie with a friend who likes action movies, then the service could combine those interests and recommend Red Notice, an action-comedy, that you will most likely both enjoy. Another example of deep learning would be if a number of friends who know different things about your movie choices shared their information to jointly decide the best movie for you.
Artificial Intelligence’s transformative power is reverberating across many industries, but in health care, its effects are truly life-changing. From hospital care to clinical research, drug development, medical image diagnosis, and virtual health assistance, there are many ways AI applications are revolutionizing how the health sector works to reduce spending and improve patient outcomes. In fact, the company Accenture predicts that the top AI applications may result in annual savings of $150 billion by 2026 through digitization, engagement and diagnostics.
AI is also improving health through progressive predictive analytics platforms that are using machine learning and deep learning to identify individuals who appear to have chronic conditions even before being diagnosed. This means that for the first time, care advocacy and medical management companies can actually be proactive in addressing employees’ medical conditions. In fact, machine learning has broken the barrier for predictive analytics modeling to occur for fully insured groups who want to transition to self-funding, or other arrangements, but have no diagnosis codes. Small group, fully insured companies now have tools to help their employees live healthier lives.
With these advancements in AI and its subfields, the future of health care looks promising. There will be more cost savings and deaths prevented by using machines to process information from larger databases than ever before. While some might still consider AI something to fear, its positive impact on the health care industry will be profoundly impactful. And it has only just begun.
Ben Winfield is vice president of channel partnerships at Rover Analytics.
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