NEWS YOU CAN’T MISS

Are You at Risk of Cancer? AI Might Know

In a recent Wall Street Journal article, Brianna Abbott writes on how AI is revolutionizing breast cancer screening to forecast a woman’s five-year risk of developing breast cancer. 

Take Clairity, for example, which was founded by Dr. Connie Lehman, Professor of Radiology at Harvard Medical School. Trained on 77,000 mammograms, its AI recently became the first FDA-authorized breast-cancer risk predictor.

• The AI analyzes subtle, hidden patterns in breast tissue that can indicate cancer risk years before the disease appears

• It can even extract hidden clues from images, inferring details such as age, menopause status, and childbirth history, showing just how much information is in women’s breast tissue.

• Researchers note that these systems often outperform traditional risk calculators, which rely on age, family history, and breast density.

• While older tools predict correctly about 60% of the time, AI improves accuracy to 70% or more.

Experts caution that more evidence is needed to show long-term outcomes, such as reduced mortality but I’m all for shifting cancer care from detecting disease to anticipating it.

Here’s a striking statistic: approximately 85% of women diagnosed with breast cancer annually have no family history or obvious risk factors, underscoring the importance of improved AI-based predictions.

The AI Star Everyone’s Talking About

Hollywood has a new rising star… and she’s not even real.

Her name is Tilly Norwood, and she’s an AI-generated actress created by Dutch studio Xicoia. Norwood posts glossy headshots, performs in skits, and even has casting-style reels, all designed to make her look like the next big thing.

Her introduction has left Hollywood in an uproar; stars including Emily Blunt, Natasha Lyonne, and Whoopi Goldberg condemned the project, with Blunt calling it “terrifying”.

The actors’ union SAG-AFTRA also weighed in, saying Norwood was trained on the work of real performers without their consent or pay, and that it “jeopardizes livelihoods and devalues human artistry.” What do you think?

Meet Lidia Fonseca, Chief Digital Officer at Pfizer

Celebrating this week’s Woman in Tech 🥳 Meet Lidia Fonseca, Chief Digital & Tech Officer at Pfizer, the global pharmaceutical leader currently valued around $155 billion.

Fonseca has helped reshape healthcare by using AI and data to make medicines faster, improve manufacturing, and give patients better care around the world.

After studying at UC Berkeley and later earning two master’s degrees in Rotterdam (including an MBA), Fonseca built her career in health and tech. At Quest Diagnostics, she launched the Quanum™ platform, which gave doctors and patients smarter ways to access and use health data.

At Pfizer, her leadership was crucial during COVID-19. She automated over 90% of the company’s 100 million transactions and used AI to speed up drug development, enabling digital tools and real-time data to power the global rollout of the vaccine and oral treatment. She also championed patient-focused innovations like the Pfizer Digital Companion suite and PfizerForAll, making healthcare more accessible and personal.

Recognized among Forbes CIO Next, Forbes CEO Next, and ALPFA’s 50 Most Powerful Latinas, Fonseca is also a two-time winner of the CIO of the Year ORBIE Award. 🥇

AI Around The World:

In Canada, AI startup Cohere has pushed its value to $7B after raising $100M in its latest funding round. It also teamed up with AMD, so Cohere’s AI models can now run on AMD’s chips. Unlike OpenAI, which is tightly linked to Nvidia, Cohere is pitching itself as a more flexible option for businesses that want control over their own data.

In Vietnam, the country could soon become one of the first in the region with a comprehensive AI framework. The new rules would require labels on AI content, stricter oversight, and aim to expand AI use in smart cities and public services - while ensuring final decisions in areas like health and education stay with humans.

In the US, consulting giant Accenture says it will cut staff who can’t be reskilled in AI, part of a major restructuring due to rising client demand for AI. CEO Julie Sweet said 550,000 workers have already been retrained, but those without a “viable path” to AI skills will be “exited” on a tight timeline.