Abundance: The Future is Better Than You Think

by Peter H. Diamandis

“Watson has the potential to help doctors reduce the time needed to evaluate and determine the correct diagnosis for a patient,” says Dr. Herbert Chase, professor of clinical medicine at Columbia. He also has the ability to develop personalized treatment options for every patient, a capability that Dr. Eliot Siegel, professor and vice chair at Maryland’s Department of Diagnostic Radiology, explains this way: “Imagine a supercomputer that can not only store and collate patient data but also interpret records in a matter of seconds, analyze additional information and research from medical journals, and deliver possible diagnoses and treatments, with the probability of each outcome precisely calculated.” But delivering correct diagnoses depends on having accurate data, which sometimes don’t come from a conversation with the patient. Even the most brilliant diagnostician needs X-rays, CT scans, and blood chemistries to make the right call. But most of today’s high-tech hospital equipment is large, expensive, and power hungry—unfit for the cost-conscious consumer, let alone the developing world. But now ask yourself that fabled DIY question: What would MacGyver do? Well, MacGyver would empty his pockets and get the job done with a roll of Scotch tape, a piece of paper napkin, and a ball of spit—which, as it turns out, is exactly the solution we need.