It is hard to believe the impact AI has on our lives.

Hello, AI enthusiasts! 👍

Last week was quite a hectic one 😅, but every time I’m coming back to writing this short intro, I know - it’s a new week, a new beginning, a new round. Maybe it’s pretty selfish, but I really love the tradition of ours - whatever is happening, there will always be you, reader, me and this weekly 3-minute newsletter 🫂

So whenever you are - in a Tube, in an office or on a bench soaking it all in - take a second, relax and enjoy what we discovered! ⛳️

1. Big Letters 🔠

The Big C for “cancer” is a huge threat to anyone and has never been out of the doctor’s control. So, it is no surprise AI tools are being tried to be implemented as a new hope 🙏🏻

A new AI tool named Mia, which is being piloted alongside NHS clinicians, marks a significant advancement in cancer detection, particularly in breast cancer screening. What does it do? Long story short, Mia demonstrated promising accuracy rates in predicting cancer presence and absence. Trained on a dataset 📊 of over 6,000 previous breast cancer cases, the tool analysed mammograms of over 10,000 women, successfully identifying symptoms of breast cancer, including 11(!) instances overlooked by human radiologists. With breast cancer being the most common cancer in women worldwide 🌍, Mia's potential to enhance early detection holds promise for improving patient outcomes.

Moreover, ongoing research aims to expand Mia's capabilities to predict patients' risk of post-treatment side effects, paving the way for personalised care strategies. Clinical trials like Pre-Act seek to validate Mia's effectiveness further, underscoring the long-term goal of developing the system for comprehensive patient prognosis and treatment assessment. Fingers crossed, one day, the Big C will become a Big H for “history” 🤞 

2. All Ears 👂🏻 

The popularity of podcasts has significantly surged recently compared to the past few years. According to a report by Grand View Research, the global podcast market is estimated to reach $130.65 billion at a CAGR of 27.6% 📈 by 2030. This leaves no room to second-guess whether podcasts will trend.

According to the Emarketer’s recent forecast, adding podcasts 🎧 to the digital marketing strategy can boost engagement, drive traffic, and increase brand visibility and niche targeting. So let’s think practically: what should we do? You can make the podcast work for you and your brand in two ways: 1️⃣ ad swaps (where you trade impressions with other podcasts) and 2️⃣ email blasts (where you send email blasts or pay others to promote when a new episode is released).

With engaged listeners spending an average of 54 minutes daily (USA), marketers have a prime opportunity to reach their target audience. Obviously, there was a slowdown in growth post-pandemic, but the fact is that podcasting remains strong, with significant international growth potential, particularly in Latin America and China. So, if you want to be seen – consider being heard 🙉

3. Robotic Trust 🦿

During the span of our lives, we struggle with who we should trust 😨 Should I ask a stranger? A colleague? A government? A partner? But for those who suffer from dementia, this question becomes an everyday struggle. 

That is why an Australian care home used an AI-powered robot to give dementia patients 👵 a feeling of care. Viv, the robot, learnt from the real-life experiences of four patients using a large language model and can interact with patients as they speak about their thoughts and feelings 🗣️

Viv represents a real breakthrough that AI can provide in healthcare 🏥 but isn’t meant as a total replacement for dementia care. Staff shortages mean that this robot could provide some much-needed support to care staff who can’t always provide round-the-clock supervision 👨‍⚕️

But the thing is, can we really “trust a robot?” 🤖 says Alistair McEwan, a biomedical engineering professor at the University of Sydney. According to a report in 2022 by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, more than 400,000 Australians live with dementia; the condition affects the quality of life of hundreds of thousands of patients who are afflicted and their families and friends. So, could you trust a robot? I think we might have to 💭

By the way, have you seen my article on our future with AGI? What will be in 100 years? I’ve tried to imagine briefly two visions: utopian and dystopian. It’s up to us to choose: https://medium.com/@rehetep/100-years-of-agi-7540bdf2031c

As you see, the world is changing rapidly 🏎️ and, hopefully, these changes are for good. As long as we stick together - we'll be fine, I checked ✅ 

See you in a week! Stay curious! 🚀

Max

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