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The ideas and innovators shaping health care | | | | |  | | By Ruth Reader, Carmen Paun, Daniel Payne and Erin Schumaker | | | | | 
President Joe Biden and California Gov. Gavin Newsom are both examining AI's potential. | Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images | Rising health care costs are busting government budgets across the land. California is looking to artificial intelligence to keep costs in line, reports POLITICO’s Rachel Bluth from Sacramento. “Administrative simplicity and cutting waste is something to focus on” with AI, said Dr. Sandra R. Hernández, president and CEO of the nonprofit California Health Care Foundation, at a recent meeting of the state’s Health Care Affordability Board, which sets state spending targets. Why it matters: AI could alter the state’s estimates of how much health care spending is growing. A nationwide study last year figured that AI could save between $200 billion and $300 billion annually. In California, that would equate to between $20 billion and $41 billion in savings, around 5 to 10 percent lower than today, according to Dr. CJ Howard, assistant deputy director of the state Office of Health Care Affordability. Even so: Howard cautioned against putting too much weight behind the number. It’s based on one study, he noted, and requires most of the health care industry to start using AI, which is unlikely. And not everyone is as optimistic. “I’m not saying AI is useless, but I’m saying that I’m a little skeptical,” said Dr. Richard Pan, a former State Senate Health Committee chair and a Health Care Affordability Board member. Pan, a practicing pediatrician in Sacramento, said he’s seen poor results from AI in medicine. “There’s a lot of hype about AI right now, but I’m waiting for something that actually works,” Pan said.
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Tom Miner Basin, Mont. | Sam Oates | This is where we explore the ideas and innovators shaping health care. If you think human life is short, spare a thought for a little Australian male marsupial, the antechinus, which only lives a year. That lifespan focuses its priorities, researchers down under found: The antechinus spends the last few weeks of its life mating, at the cost of sleep. Share any thoughts, news, tips and feedback with Carmen Paun at cpaun@politico.com, Daniel Payne at dpayne@politico.com, Ruth Reader at rreader@politico.com or Erin Schumaker at eschumaker@politico.com. Send tips securely through SecureDrop, Signal, Telegram or WhatsApp.
| | |  Loneliness increased during the pandemic, and some see chatbots as a potential cure. | AFP via Getty Images | Chatbots might be able to help people experiencing loneliness and suicidal thoughts. A new study from researchers at Stanford’s Graduate School of Education in npj Mental Health Research reveals that more than half of 1,006 students suffering from loneliness and suicidal thoughts benefited after talking to an intelligent bot called Replika. Furthermore, 3 percent reported that talking to the bot stopped them from acting on suicidal thoughts. Why it matters: Loneliness spiked during the pandemic’s height. In 2021, the Gallup Organization found that a quarter of Americans reported feeling lonely, and the problem persists. Even so: Some didn’t like talking to Replika. One student reported feeling dependent on the bot for their mental well-being. Two were disturbed by sexual conversations, which highlighted to researchers that they might need to restrict what Replika can discuss.
| | | | DON’T MISS POLITICO’S GOVERNORS SUMMIT: Join POLITICO on Feb. 22 to dive into how Governors are wielding immense power. While Washington remains gridlocked, governors are at the center of landmark decisions in AI and tech, economic development, infrastructure, housing, reproductive health and energy. How are they setting the stage for the future of American politics, policies and priorities? How are they confronting major challenges? Explore these questions and more at the 2024 Governors Summit. REGISTER HERE. | | | | | | | | |  Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg is partnering with a nonprofit to study his websites' impact on well-being. | AFP via Getty Images | Facebook’s parent company, Meta, is partnering with the Center for Open Science, a nonprofit dedicated to open research, to study well-being and social media. The two-year pilot will offer selected researchers access to data from Meta’s platforms. Meta and the center say any resulting work will undergo peer review and be published. Why it matters: Meta’s under pressure from policymakers at the federal and state levels to make its social media platforms safer for kids’ mental health. Last November, former Facebook employee Arturo Bejar told members of Congress that the company knows its platforms are harmful to teens in testimony before the Senate Judiciary Privacy, Technology and the Law Subcommittee. Bejar is the second Meta whistleblower to come forward in the last few years. Meta is currently facing a class action lawsuit and a second suit from 33 state attorneys general, both of which contend its products are harming children. States are also moving to curb social media platforms with laws that limit how much data they can collect on children and that mandate their products be child-safe. What’s next? Congress is considering online child safety legislation. Facebook may be trying to fix its platform before Congress regulates it. | | | | Follow us on Twitter | | | | Follow us | | | | |  |
