NEWS YOU CAN’T MISS

AI Saves Doctors from Burnout

Abridge, a healthcare startup that's making waves with its innovative use of AI in clinical documentation, is on the brink of securing $250 million in funding, which would boost its valuation to an impressive $2.5 billion.

So, what's all the buzz about?

• Abridge is a mobile app that doctors can turn on while speaking to their patients (see photo from Reid Health, a hospital provider in Indiana and Ohio👆🏽).

• The AI captures and transcribes conversations and generates notes that integrate seamlessly into structured medical documents in healthcare systems like Epic.

• The doctor then reviews the structured notes to make sure they are correct.

Here’s why it matters: Having AI work on documents massively reduces clinician burnout.

• At UVM Health Network, clinicians experienced a 60% decrease in after-hours documentation.

• At CHRISTUS Health, it resulted in a 78% reduction in cognitive load and a 40% decrease in burnout rates amongst clinicians.

Hospitals are signing up for such tools

Abridge is already being used by dozens of healthcare systems like the University of Vermont Health Network, CHRISTUS Health, UChicago Medicine, Yale New Haven Health System, and Emory Healthcare. It reportedly will make $50m in revenue this year.

I’m a fan of Abridge because this is a great example of an AI startup providing tangible results that increase productivity, job satisfaction and patient satisfaction. 😎

ps. If you're wondering whether it will be available for nurses too: Mayo Clinic, Epic, and Abridge recently joined forces to make that happen soon.

AI Agents Are Here! 😎

Well, that didn’t take long. I’ve been talking about AI agents and agents workflows and saying they will come in the next few years, but no, they’re here…. now. Just goes to show how fast AI is moving. 🤯

First, Microsoft just launched its AI agents or “virtual employees” intended to automate repetitive tasks, such as managing records, sending emails, and processing sales orders. It will be available to everyone in 2025.

But early access reviews are in: McKinsey raved that its Microsoft AI agent is reducing client onboarding time by 90% and administrative work by 30%. ⭐️ Wow.

Then today Anthropic announced that its AI agent can literally take over your computer and la-dee-dah, just go about doing your errands while you relax and read my newsletter.

Early access reviews are in: Ethan Mollick (who has an excellent newsletter on AI) reported that he tested it out.

He asked Claude to make a lesson plan on The Great Gatsby for high school students and align it with the Common Core Standards. Then he walked away from his laptop.

Here’s what Claude did while Mollick was away.

1. It downloaded the book.

2. It looked up what lesson plans look like on the web

3. It opened a spreadsheet application and put in a lesson plan

4. It also looked up Common Core standards and then corrected and revised the lesson plan.

According to Mollick, “the results are not bad,” and importantly, he didn’t have to guide the AI agent step by step. It did all the steps by itself.

And that is exactly the definition of an AI agent: A self-directed program that can complete tasks, make decisions, and learn from its experiences, all to achieve a specific goal.

Lots of kinks will continue to be noticed in all these products as they become available to all of us, but there is no denying that “virtual employees” are coming and they will absolutely change how we work.

WOMAN IN TECH

Meet Eva Maydell, Member of the European Parliament

Celebrating this week's Woman in Tech 🥳: At just 37, Eva Maydell has become one of Europe's most influential voices in digital policy and tech innovation.

Born in Bulgaria, Maydell is a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) and has served as a lead negotiator on two critical pieces of EU tech legislation - the Chips Act and the AI Act (the world's first comprehensive legal framework for AI).

She studied international relations and business at John Cabot University in Rome and Harvard's Kennedy School.

Key achievements:

• Policy Leadership: She has been a key figure in drafting and negotiating the AI Act, aiming to position Europe as a global leader in responsible AI development.

• Digital Transformation: Maydell has supported digital transformation initiatives across Europe, emphasizing the importance of secure cloud infrastructure compliant with GDPR standards.

• Recognition and Influence: Maydell is a World Economic Forum Young Global Leader and was named as one of Politico's 40 most influential MEPs and the Financial Times’ “New Europe 100” ranking of emerging change-makers.

From Bulgaria to Brussels, Maydell is inspiring the next generation of women in tech and policy. 💪

Food for Thought

Can You Prove You Are Human? 👁️

Sam Altman’s project, World, is offering a futuristic solution to the problem of proving you're human in an AI-driven world with humanoid robots and AI agents. A device called Org takes a scan of your eyeballs and gives you a World ID to verify your identity while keeping it anonymous and secure on the blockchain.

Worldcoin says it has verified the identities of nearly 7 million “unique humans”. And it’s coming soon to coffee shops near you or Orb-scanning spaces in cities like Buenos Aires and Mexico City.

But here's the real question: would you let this orb scan your eyeballs and use it for seamless digital identity everywhere (remember Sam Altman is the man who brought us ChatGPT so he knows a thing or two about where the future is headed).

Just two weeks left to register for the second cohort of my Gen AI course, grab your spot today!

Have a great week ahead.

Until next time!

Ayesha ♥️