Mayo Clinic organizes AI conference emphasizing collaboration between healthcare professionals and computer scientists – Post Bulletin
ROCHESTER — This weekend, Rochester is hosting over 200 professionals, including computer scientists, health researchers, and medical experts, for the Machine Learning for Healthcare conference.
The intent is to foster collaboration between AI algorithm developers and healthcare providers who will be implementing these technologies.
“Historically, the conference has been dominated by scientists,” said Shauna Overgaard, Mayo Clinic’s senior director of AI strategy and frameworks. “Recently, there has been a concerted effort to include more clinicians, which is why Mayo Clinic was chosen as the host this year.”
This year’s hosting responsibilities for Mayo Clinic align with its commitment to advancing AI in healthcare and building partnerships. Just last month, Mayo Clinic and NVIDIA
announced a partnership
aimed at enhancing Mayo’s AI models with support from NVIDIA’s DGX SuperPOD supercomputer.
During Mayo Clinic’s own AI Summit this summer, internal AI leaders highlighted nearly 100 AI algorithms in clinical use and
talked about “building AI into the fabric of Mayo.”
“Mayo Clinic is a physician-led organization,” Overgaard stated. “When we develop AI solutions, clinicians are at the core of the process.”
While many conference participants are from the computer science domains, Thursday’s pre-conference workshop was tailored for clinicians to gain practical experience in AI development. The day began with presentations from leaders at the American Medical Association, the largest physician organization in the country.
“As AI increasingly becomes part of our daily discussions, the conversation often shifts to ‘What about AI ethics?'” remarked Dr. Frederick Chen, the AMA’s chief health and science officer. “What is the role of humanity in AI and its development?”
A significant number of physicians surveyed by the AMA are already utilizing AI tools, such as scribes for creating patient visit notes, along with a variety of FDA-cleared AI medical devices available in the U.S. market.
“There’s a substantial influx of investment in the area of what I broadly label health care AI,” noted Christopher Khoury, AMA’s vice president of strategic insights.
However, AI utilization is just one aspect amidst several factors affecting the healthcare landscape: provider burnout, staff shortages, time constraints, legal accountability, and an ageing population, among others.
“We need to consider whether technological solutions genuinely address these issues and simplify lives,” Khoury commented.
Joe Ahlquist / Post Bulletin
Later in the day, workshop participants engaged in two AI-focused courses developed by NVIDIA’s educational branch.
“We hope clinicians feel empowered to code and dig deeper into machine learning,” stated Dr. Kaivalya Deshpande, a physician at NYU Langone Hospital – Brooklyn and an MLHC program chair.
The MLHC conference will be held at the Hilton in downtown Rochester on Friday, Aug. 15, and Saturday, Aug. 16.
Joe Ahlquist / Post Bulletin
