Ambient AI is having its ‘moment’ in healthcare

Ambient intelligence, or ambient AI, has become increasingly widespread across industries and has become especially relevant in healthcare. Ambient AI uses technology and computers to detect, respond and generate insights based on the mere presence of people. That is, instead of users actively asking questions or directing actions, these systems activate automatically and perform their tasks autonomously.

The most common example of this in the modern technology landscape is the Internet of Things (IoT), which includes everything from smart accessories that a person can wear to smart devices that are often found throughout the home. In healthcare, these devices have enormous impact potential. For example, a smartwatch can automatically detect when a user’s heart rate is elevated and send notifications accordingly, alerting the user.

Recent developments in computing capacity have opened up many possibilities in this field. Devices can now go beyond just sending notifications and tracking metrics, potentially integrating further seamlessly into people’s lives. For example, suppose a user has a colonoscopy scheduled for Thursday and cannot drive home after the procedure. By using AI and advanced edge computingthe user’s phone can recognize this event from the calendar, automatically schedule a taxi to drop off and pick up the user, and even automatically schedule food delivery after the procedure so that the user doesn’t have to cook after he gets home . These actions would be learned over time and based on a user’s preferences, and eventually perfected to work in the background to provide a great user experience. This type of technology can be incredibly helpful for patients who do not have adequate healthcare infrastructure or who require consistent monitoring or attention.

Ambient AI in the clinical workflow is also advancing rapidly. One of the main examples that has become extremely popular in recent years is ambient dictation technology, which aims to listen to a conversation between doctor and patient in the background and transcribe it into a note so that a doctor can then review it and finish. A study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), healthcare providers spend nearly 1.77 hours completing documentation tasks outside of regular business hours. Other studies have found that documentation tasks are among the most commonly cited reasons for physician burnout and turnover. While environmental dictation doesn’t completely eliminate these tasks, it does make them significantly easier.

An example of this technology in widespread use is from Augmedix, which uses an environmental dictation platform to automatically generate meeting notes. Particularly the company recently announced that it would be acquired by Commure for $139 million. Another example is Nuance, which was bought by Microsoft in 2022. Nuance is one of the most popular platforms used by providers worldwide for dictation purposes. The company is now using AI capabilities to make this dictation process even more robust and ‘smarter’, further easing the burden on providers.

The possibilities behind this technology are enormous. From virtual assistants to data-driven insights generation capabilities, ambient AI is a growing field in the world of artificial intelligence more broadly, and has significant potential to transform healthcare for both patients and providers.