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Get the most interesting and important stories from the University of Pittsburgh.Innovators, entrepreneurs and leaders from around the world convened on the University’s Pittsburgh campus this week to explore how emerging technologies like artificial intelligence and advanced computing are reshaping health care, economic competitiveness and the global innovation economy.
Pitt, in partnership with the Global Federation of Competitiveness Councils (GFCC) and the Council on Competitiveness (COC), hosted experts for three days of conversation and collaboration during “Forging the Future: The Intersection of Health, AI and Tech.” Along with being the first time the annual GFCC Global Innovation Summit was held in the U.S., this year’s summit was also paired for the first time with the COC’s Competitiveness Conversations Across America series.
At the summit — which saw attendance from regional, national and global leaders across industry, academia, the public sector and venture capital — the University showcased how it is partnering to advance an intentional, place-making strategy that drives innovation, growth and long-term prosperity.
“We want to explore the intersectionality of health, AI and technology with an eye towards the kind of collaboration that this region is known for,” Pitt Chancellor Joan Gabel said in her welcome remarks. “That creates friendly collisions that can catalyze entire ecosystems simply by having the right people in the right place, together at the same time.”
Participants discussed the unique strengths of Pittsburgh, which is known around the world as a hub of AI and health innovation, in large part because of the synergistic research, education and clinical activity of its two biggest universities.
“We’re a city of eds, meds and emerging tech whose impact is amplified by the research and talent of our academic institutions,” said Farnam Jahanian, president of Carnegie Mellon University, also an event partner. Jahanian also noted that the universities “play a pivotal role in catalyzing and supporting our innovation economy.”
Here are the top three topics and takeaways from the conference:
AI is fundamentally reshaping academic life
Many participants expect the future of education to feature deep integration of artificial intelligence into the curriculum across all disciplines, including the social sciences, humanities and life sciences.
“We have to integrate AI into the educational framework,” said Hooman Rashidi, associate dean of AI in medicine at Pitt. “I don’t mean for folks like us in computer science, who are coders. I’m talking about the masses.”
Multiple panelists also explored how the technology might transform the scientific discovery process itself. In these conversations, AI was described as a “copilot” rather than a substitute for the human intellect. Some experts said they see the present moment as a transition to the “AI-enabled era” of research and discovery, in which researchers are able to leverage large data sets and machine learning in ways that would have otherwise required thousands of scientists and countless hours of work.
It’s a shift that necessitates institutions commit to promoting AI fluency for all students, staff and faculty. But it doesn't need to be an alarming change, many summit participants said.
“I think ‘artificial’ frightens people,” said Harris Pastides, president emeritus of the University of South Carolina. “There's not one thing that's artificial about AI. We invented it.”
[Read more: This partnership with Anthropic and AWS is positioning Pitt as an AI-enabled Campus of the Future.]
AI’s transformative impact on health care is here
AI tools are already being used to improve patient engagement, accelerate drug discovery and support clinical decision-making.
Liron Pantanowitz, Maud L. Menten Professor of Pathology in Pitt’s School of Medicine, described how AI is already used in UPMC hospitals. He said the tech can, for example, scan pathology images with 200,000 cells on a single slide without overlooking the one or two cells that could predict cervical cancer.
Another example is AI-driven augmented reality and computational models — led by Costas Hadjipanayis, L. Dade Lunsford Professor of Neurological Surgery in the School of Medicine — which are improving safety and precision for procedures like gamma knife surgery.
“AI is already delivering measurable impact in health care and the life sciences, and we see it every day,” Sandra Colner, senior director of health care and life sciences for Dell Technologies, said during a fireside chat with Chancellor Gabel on Sunday.
[Pitt is launching its first online undergraduate degree in health informatics and AI.]
Pittsburgh is a hub for innovation at the convergence of AI, health and technology
The region’s strengths — a robust academic medical system combined with world-class robotics and AI expertise — are leveraged through collaboration between universities, industry, communities and philanthropy to tackle difficult problems. These efforts position Pittsburgh as a place to invent the future of health care, said GFCC Chairman Chad Holliday Jr.
“We really learned a lot about the power of partnership in Pittsburgh, the transformative potential of emergent and convergent technologies and what that might mean for a region’s productivity and prosperity potential,” Holliday said.
The conference drew attention from government officials at multiple levels. Both U.S. Senators from Pennsylvania, John Fetterman and Dave McCormick, sent personalized video messages played at the summit for participants. And the final keynote address was delivered by Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, who noted that he is “twice a Pitt dad.”
“It’s no surprise to me that this group of leaders in health care and technology have gathered here at the University of Pittsburgh. This is where you belong,” Shapiro said. “And I’m grateful to the chancellor for convening this important conversation here to explore ways that AI can help cure diseases, treat the sick and advance public health nationwide.”
Find more highlights from the governor’s address in the Pittsburgh Business Times and the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
Top photo by Aimee Obidzinski. Sunday’s welcome event included a fireside chat with Chancellor Joan Gabel and Sandra Colner of Dell Technologies.
Read more coverage of the summit
- How the University of Pittsburgh is leading the future of health through AI and innovation (Pittsburgh Business Times)
- Global summit convenes health care, education leaders at Pitt (Pittsburgh Business Times)
- AI summit underway at Pitt highlights positive impact of innovation (WPXI)