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The Moment: July 2024
In this issue
Welcome to The Moment, which recently found itself watching a documentary about the Amazon basin. (What? Newsletters have Netflix, too.) The film ended, naturally, with a plea for us to be virtuous stewards of the rainforest. But there are reasons to save rainforests besides virtue. From undiscovered medicines to carbon sequestration, entirely self-interested imperatives exist for protecting the Amazon.
A related thread connects our latest articles, which by the way are terrific. (What? Newsletters have egos, too.) At the center of these stories are Stanford faculty working to diversify their respective corners of the universe. And while of course that’s a deeply worthy, blisteringly overdue goal, it’s also something else: good business. From AI to medicine, widening our lens onto humanity makes for better AI and medicine.
Read on, and feel free to reply to this email with your thoughts. We read all mail!
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Not her first rodeo
AI’s ability to transform medicine hinges on how well those large language models reflect the biological breadth of us humans. How do we make those medical data sets more representative of all populations? Tina Hernandez-Boussard thinks the answer lies in her rural roots.
Not her first rodeo
Read about Hernandez-Boussard’s workAI’s ability to transform medicine hinges on how well those large language models reflect the biological breadth of us humans. How do we make those medical data sets more representative of all populations? Tina Hernandez-Boussard thinks the answer lies in her rural roots.
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AI is smart. Let’s make it wise.
Read “Artful Intelligence”AI’s blinkered understanding of our species includes a rather unsophisticated conception of race—which leads to a host of downstream problems. For Michele Elam, teaching AI about humanity requires dedicated engagement with the humanities.
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When the stakes are life and death
At the core of Stanford’s REACH Initiative lies an urgent truth: Making the medical field more representative of the patients it serves doesn’t just lift up marginalized communities. It saves lives.
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