Why the former Openai supervisor urges health leaders to “specialize in empathy”
Even the most intense proponents of artificial intelligence understand the lasting importance of human connection in an increasingly technology-driven world.
Zack Kass, an AI expert and former head of market strategy at Openai, discussed the idea in his Monday morning speech at the HFMA annual conference in Denver. To illustrate his point, Cass talked about his experience about six months ago while witnessing his father receives the Breast Cancer Society Lifetime Achievement Award.
His father, oncologist Dr. Fred Kass, has gained a decades-long career in breast cancer care. His son noted that during Dr. Cass's oncologist, breast cancer survival soared from 35% to about 90%.
“It's an incredible achievement and a proof of science – I'm so proud of my father, scientists that when I heard that I wasn't ready that night.”
One of his breast cancer patients spoke on the stage before Kass's father won the award. She survived the fight against the disease – Cass admits that he hopes she appreciates her father's unique way of saving lives.
Instead, she said she had received three identical diagnoses from three oncologists, all of whom proposed nearly identical care plans.
“She admitted that her science has become so advanced that machines actually prescribe treatments are better than doctors. So, she decided, she said she would choose the doctors who would inspire the most hopeful,” Kass declared. “In the world of solving science, she realized that the way the bedside was not a feature, but a product.”
In other words, the bedside approach is not “good good” but the core of care, which is really important to the patient.
Cass said the woman's comments changed his life. He realized that his father had been known in the Santa Barbara area as a high-profile oncologist and was not important to the community because he was smart – he was important to the community because he was friendly and people could tell him that he really cared about them.
“If oncology is about to be addressed, what won't be? In a world where you can specialize in anything, it may be time to start talking about specializing in our most humanistic qualities – adaptability, courage, compassion, wisdom, curiosity and humor. The list is actually going on,” Cass said.
As AI continues to change the clinical landscape, Cass is optimistic that healthcare leaders will not ignore what makes medicine meaningful.
Photo: Kieferpix, Getty Images
