Arizona modernizes public health services with AI
Artificial intelligence is creating new pathways to patient services in the Arizona healthcare system. It is part of a growing trend of providers using AI to improve diagnostics and service availability.
AI is improving access to care, reducing administrative costs and providing preventive diagnostics for underserved populations, according to University of Arizona research.
Steven Zylstra, president and CEO of the Arizona Technology Council, said the public healthcare system is taking advantage of the nearly limitless amount of data AI has made available.
“It essentially has an accumulation of all the knowledge that mankind has ever accumulated and it has the ability to query that database in seconds,” Zylstra observed.
Researchers from the University of Arizona are working to combine AI with other scientific data to ensure people have access to healthcare services they need, no matter their socioeconomic status. The research team is also collaborating with the state’s Indigenous tribes and clinics, as well as other service organizations. The partnerships are meant to improve care in Indigenous nations and U.S.-Mexico border communities.
Zylstra said AI could eliminate some jobs as its use becomes more universal but argued the overall economy and job market will grow with the use of the new technology.
“The technology ends up creating more jobs than it gets rid of, and they’re just new jobs,” Zylstra contended.
The Arizona Department of Economic Security is also using AI to create better and more streamlined access to childcare, housing and food security. The Federal Trade Commission warned AI tools can be “inaccurate, biased, and discriminatory” and said policymakers should be cautious about relying on them.