After the discovery comes the story. The way science tells that story can determine the fate of a nation. Communicating the risks and benefits of COVID-19 vaccines, for example, has proven to be a formidable challenge. Now is also a critical time for our leaders to hear, understand and embrace the epic narrative that artificial intelligence is writing for the future of healthcare.
In Australia, transformational opportunities brought by artificial intelligence (AI) are being embraced by industry leaders in mining, agriculture and environmental management. But in healthcare, where AI has been shown to increase productivity, reduce patient harm and lower costs, its adoption has been frustratingly slow.
In England, things are progressing far more rapidly. The National Health Service (NHS) is a global leader in AI adoption and is investing more than £1 billion over the next decade to develop and deploy smart medical software and export it overseas. Similar strategies are in play in places such as the United States, Europe and the Asian tiger economies.
Australia, which has long been at the forefront of technology adoption, is falling behind. If we wish to catch up, it will take leadership from government to match what is happening in other nations. We need to ensure our world-class researchers and start-ups are equipped to grasp the new opportunities in AI-driven healthcare before they slip through our fingers.
Huge potential to be realized
Other nations are already reaping the benefits of AI in healthcare. According to the Lord Darzi Review, an independent report published in 2018 on the state of health and care services within the NHS, improvements in productivity through automation are expected to save the English health system £12.5 billion a year, or 9.9% of the NHS’s annual budget.
There are also significant profits to be made. The export market for such technologies is rapidly expanding, as tech giants such as Google, Amazon and Apple compete with smaller companies to dominate an industry that is growing rapidly and could reach $27.6 billion by 2025.
With so much upside, how do we explain Australia’s reluctance to embrace one of the most revolutionary technology opportunities of the century?
The future is now
Perhaps we simply do not believe the hype surrounding AI.
Australia is a conservative nation and we’re proud of our scepticism. Scepticism was the right attitude in the 1990s, but it’s well past its use-by date in 2021. As Roy Amara, past president of California’s Institute for the Future, once observed, “We tend to overestimate the effect of a technology in the short run and underestimate the effect in the long run.”
AI-driven healthcare is not a pipedream. It’s supported by decades of advances in systems design and engineering. According to CSIRO Data61, it’s one of three areas of AI specialisation in Australia with the highest potential to bolster local industry and economic growth and improve the wellbeing of current and future generations.
In the coming months, the Australian Alliance for Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare, a group run by leaders in industry, academia and forward-thinking health services, will release a roadmap to help guide the nation’s journey to becoming a global leader in healthcare AI. At the same time, the federal government is preparing to release its national action plan for AI, which will hopefully signal a stronger commitment to supporting the growth of this burgeoning technology sector.
Australia is too smart and too important, globally, to ignore the transformational benefits of AI. We all want a healthcare system that is safe, effective and financially sustainable. We want a thriving economy, replete with competitive employment opportunities in dynamic companies. If we want that, it’s critical that we tell ourselves a different story about AI – and we need to do it fast.
Opinion Piece by Enrico Coiera
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Featured photo credit: supplied
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