From headphones that double as hearing aids to the use of AI voice assistance on the House floor, the last year built upon the tech advancements from the COVID-19 pandemic while opening the door to the new possibilities of the digital health space.
AI, especially the use of generative AI, is largely cited by the health care community as having the biggest impact on the industry in 2024.
“2024 really opened up our eyes — I’m talking both on the clinician side and the consumer side — to the incredible potential of gen AI tools,” René Quashie, the vice president of digital health for the Consumer Technology Association (CTA), told The Hill.
Quashie pointed to medical professionals’ increased use of AI-generated scribes during patient visits as being one of the most significant advancements this year.
Typically using a phone microphone, ambient AI scribes use machine learning and natural language processing to summarize conversations into an easy-to-read note following a patient visit.
While tech’s integration in health care can sometimes cause skepticism, the use of AI is increasingly embraced by the medical community.
AI for health is even making progress on Capitol Hill.
Former Rep. Jennifer Wexton (D-Va.), who was diagnosed with progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP), made headlines earlier this year after she used an AI text-to-speech app to deliver remarks on the House floor.
The Virginia Democrat, who retired at the end of the 118th Congress, said last year she hopes the use of the model shows “creative ways we can empower people facing the kinds of health and accessibility challenges I have and demonstrate our abilities don’t define us.”
Read our breakdown of 2024’s biggest digital health developments in a full report at TheHill.com this weekend.
