As artificial intelligence (AI) innovation continues to evolve, new applications for this technology continue to emerge. For the veteran community — which has seen the tragic deaths of over 71,000 veterans to suicide since 2010 — it is offering new ways to access potentially lifesaving care.
Earlier this year, a congressional hearing that featured officials from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs highlighted a few of the more than 100 use cases it has identified for AI to support veterans. Many of these cases are already being used in practice to serve veterans by assisting with everything from more accurate and efficient diagnostics for cancer to identifying veterans at the highest level of suicide risk and connecting them to the appropriate resources. Meanwhile, Washington’s health care community has also embraced the technology, pursuing new ways to support patient outcomes in the veteran community and beyond.
As a veteran, I was proud to see our state lawmakers take a significant step by expanding access to state benefits for previously overlooked veterans in need. To build on this momentum, I hope Olympia recognizes AI’s value in supporting veterans’ access to care and takes care not to suffocate AI’s tremendous potential with innovation-chilling policies.
Instead, I hope our public officials work to empower innovators to find new ways to improve the lives of those who bravely served our country.
Raymond Miller
President and CEO
Vets Place Northwest
Marysville
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