Ensuring useful adoption of generative artificial intelligence in healthcare

Objectives: This article aims to examine how generative artificial intelligence (AI) can be adopted with the most value in health systems, in response to the Executive Order on AI.

Materials and methods: We reviewed how technology has historically been deployed in healthcare, and evaluated recent examples of deployments of both traditional AI and generative AI (GenAI) with a lens on value.

Results: Traditional AI and GenAI are different technologies in terms of their capability and modes of current deployment, which have implications on value in health systems.

Discussion: Traditional AI when applied with a framework top-down can realize value in healthcare. GenAI in the short term when applied top-down has unclear value, but encouraging more bottom-up adoption has the potential to provide more benefit to health systems and patients.

Conclusion: GenAI in healthcare can provide the most value for patients when health systems adapt culturally to grow with this new technology and its adoption patterns.