Newsweek Horizons Events Kickoff Focuses on AI in Medicine, Climate Science

In September, Newsweek‘s office on the 72nd floor of One World Trade Center in New York City was abuzz with experts in medicine and climate action discussing innovations and solutions in their respective industries.

At two kickoff events for Newsweek‘s latest initiative, Newsweek Horizons launched with thought-provoking panels focused on the ways artificial intelligence impacts both the medical field and climate science.

Newsweek Horizons is a series of panels and speakers designed to bring together new and diverse perspectives on potential solutions for some of today’s key issues—from health and wellness to climate and sustainability to technology and the workplace.

Newsweek‘s Chief Strategy Officer Dayan Candappa told the audience at the AI climate event that Newsweek, a magazine that has been in print for 92 years, knows a thing or two about reinvention. Innovation is more than just making “dazzling” breakthroughs; it sometimes means taking a “fresh look at an old problem in search of a new solution.”

“We believe that in order to fully appreciate what lies over the horizon, you do need to take a step back and gain some perspective,” Candappa said. “We’re hoping that our perspectives, those of our editors and our panelists, will help you to get a little bit of a peek over what lies ahead.”

The first event, moderated by Newsweek‘s Health Care Editor Alexis Kayser, explored the realities of doctor burnout and how health systems can use AI tools to ease the burdens on health care workers’ workload and time while minimizing their stress.

Panelists included Dr. Eric Williamson, the associate chair for radiology informatics and supervision of the Radiology Artificial Intelligence Program at Mayo Clinic; Dr. Ashley Beecy, the medical director of artificial intelligence operations at New York-Presbyterian; Dr. Christine Sinsky, the vice president of professional satisfaction at the American Medical Association; and Dr. Pete Clardy, the senior clinical specialist at Google Health.

AI technology, the panelists agreed, can help physicians with administrative tasks, giving them more time to do meaningful work.

“AI is not just for doing things faster, but it’s doing things right and doing them in a better way,” Dr. Beecy said. “Physicians can tackle complex issues, they can actually cover preventative care. And I think this is going to improve the quality of care as well as the patient experience.”

The second event, which took place during Climate Week NYC, featured a discussion led by Newsweek Environment and Sustainability Editor Jeff Young about how energy and technology companies balance the climate innovations of AI-assisted breakthroughs with the power demand needed to generate them.

Panelists included Bobby Hollis, Microsoft‘s vice president of energy; Amen Ra Mashariki, director of AI and data strategies at Bezos Earth Fund; Suzanne DiBianca, executive vice president & chief impact officer at Salesforce; Heather Quinley, managing director, ESG & sustainability at Duke Energy; and MIT assistant professor Priya Donti.

Each panelist spoke on whether they believed AI to be a climate hero or villain—with most of them agreeing that the technology has brought many benefits to both companies and customers.

“We’ve been using AI, leveraging its capabilities since 2017, and it helps make us more efficient,” Duke Energy’s Heather Quinley said. “We’ve been using it for leak detection and faulty meters, energy theft, all the way to plant maintenance and storm detection and outage maintenance.”

Quinley said that AI was “a little bit of both” a climate hero and villain, noting that Duke takes a “pragmatic approach” to using AI in operations while understanding the “significant load growth that it brings.”

Newsweek will host more Horizons events in coming months to tackle pressing and emerging issues facing various industries around the world, such as the future of plastics (December 4), navigating political differences in the workplace (December 10) and more. Find out more about Newsweek Horizons events here.