Working with IT innovations is one of the key factors in effective business development and increased competitiveness. Fears that they will lead to unemployment are not justified – technology is generating new vacancies and transforming professions.
Today, there are many myths related to the topic of introducing IT innovations into everyday life. Let’s consider the most common of them on the example of experience gained during work in a high-tech Moscow medical laboratory.
Myth 1: IT innovation will lead to unemployment
There are fears that automation and robotization will lead to mass unemployment. However, they carry prospects for the transformation of the labor market, not its decline. Research by the Higher School of Economics and RAEC indicates an increase in productivity, the emergence of new vacancies and a change in existing professions. Thus, modern improvements in medicine, supported by AI, are already showing their effectiveness.
In pathology labs, for example, AI algorithms detect diseases, speeding up the initial stages of diagnosis and giving doctors the ability to focus on complex cases. This collaboration between machines and specialists increases the accuracy of research and reduces the burden on doctors, after all, medical professionals remain the final decision makers.
At the latest Pathology Visions conference in Orlando, a major U.S. lab called Quest Diagnostics shared its experience with Ibex’s Galen™ Gastric AI product. They reported that the use of this solution helped pathologists improve the quality of primary diagnosis of stomach biopsies: the rate of serious errors decreased by 25%.
Moreover, according to the world’s largest analytical report based on extensive data, the introduction of AI technologies into health care improves the quality of care. Thus, the use of tools based on neural networks allowed UNIM to spend not thirty minutes on diagnostics, as it was before, but only a few seconds. This allows doctors to use their time and abilities more effectively to help patients.
Thus, AI discoveries and innovations not only help healthcare professionals, but also transform diagnostic processes, providing a better future for healthcare and emphasizing the importance of adapting professionals to new technologies. The same technological breakthrough is happening in other professional areas.
Myth 2: Privacy threat
Today’s cybersecurity technologies play a key role in protecting our data and systems. Among the many tools, vulnerability search platforms are of particular value. These resources are collected by a community of “white” hackers who are testing new programs, identifying weaknesses before hackers have time to use them.
However, proper data management is important. To take an example from medicine: the separation of patients’ personal data and medical images reduces the risk of leakage. Precautions should permeate all levels of information storage.
It should be remembered that social engineering remains one of the common methods of data theft. This reminds that information protection begins with the awareness of each employee of the company. Regular training and clear data instructions are your first shield against this threat.
The effectiveness of cyber defense rests on two pillars: advanced technology and user awareness. The combination of these two elements creates strong protection for our digital resources.
Myth 3: IT innovation is available only to those who understand technology
This myth is connected with the idea that the use of IT technologies requires special knowledge and skills. In fact, most applications and services are designed to be convenient and accessible to all users. For example, medical students find Whole slide imaging (WSI) virtual microscopy more comfortable than traditional one. This is because you do not need to spend time adjusting the microscope, you can immediately concentrate on studying the drug. In addition, working with virtual microscopy is more comfortable, since modern students know computer technology well.
In addition, it is especially worth highlighting various no code or low code IT solutions. For example, today you can create site pages or landings for educational projects yourself. This allows you to easily configure, implement and optimize projects without programming knowledge or technical experience.
How IT Developments Make Everyday Life Easier
1. Convenience and availability
Digital innovations make our lives more comfortable by providing access to information and services anytime and anywhere. Today we manage the team as efficiently as in an offline format. Due to electronic document management, there is no need for a physical presence of a person: the processes of agreeing and signing documents are significantly accelerated.
By storing data in digital format, a large library is created that can be accessed instantly. For example, by scanning the histological preparations of patients with subsequent systemic storage with reference to clinical data and diagnostic results, entire electronic atlases are created. Subsequently, doctors can be trained on their basis, as well as used to train neural networks.
2. Saving time and money
Due to the fact that technology has no borders, it is possible to assemble a team of specialists from all over the world, while all employees work remotely. For example, in the Skolkovo laboratory, histologists work behind computers, not microscopes, since it is critical for an accurate diagnosis that a pathomorphologist be a specialist in a certain type of tumor. Due to the difficulty of collecting experts in one place, previously patients had to transport tissue samples for consultations. Modern technologies allow the transfer of digital images of drugs, enabling specialists to study all the data and take responsibility for making a diagnosis without physical movement of materials, and this is comparable to the quality of analysis under a light microscope. This simplifies diagnosis and makes it more accessible and accurate.
3. Ease of communication
Digital technologies are transforming corporate communication, making it faster and more transparent. As demonstrated by the experience of medical laboratories using the Digital Pathology platform, digitalization of processes provides accurate accounting, eliminates unnecessary stages of communication and contributes to the flexibility of the company, allowing you to scale quickly anticipating the burden on resources and personnel.
In addition, the development of digital communication improves international cooperation and interaction with narrow-profile specialists. Language barriers are also easily overcome through the integration of simultaneous translation solutions both in medicine and in other industries. For example, if you hold an online conference with foreign colleagues or partners, you can connect the Otter.ai platform, and it will not just translate the text synchronously, but also transcribe the entire speech so that it is easy for you to prepare a summary of the entire meeting.
If we are talking about printed text, then an indispensable tool is Grammarly. This program creates clear and convincing texts, while choosing the tone based on your preferences. It can be either strict business correspondence or friendly text using slang words. Unfortunately, this program is not available in Russia now, so you can use a telegram bot with access to the GPT-4 neural network.
Security First: What you should pay attention to when using IT tools
Of course, the use of IT development requires a critical approach: it is important to analyze and verify the information and data on which the algorithms are based, especially in sensitive areas, for example, in medicine. At the same time, the use of AI should not replace professionals, but complement their work enabling additional training on real data.
Social inequality may increase due to limited access to the latest technologies for some segments of the population. Nevertheless, experience shows that sooner or later technological innovations, penetrating into various spheres of life, are becoming more accessible and indispensable to more people.
In conclusion, I note that IT innovations continue to expand the horizons of opportunity in the professional and personal life of each of us, giving new paths to performance and comfort. The ability to implement these technologies carefully and wisely is the key to a successful future.
By Maria Kozlova, expert in business management in the field of medical technologies, director of the product department of the medical company Invitro, former managing and commercial director of the medical company UNIM