Handwashing changed medicine. AI could too, if hospitals stop treating it like traditional software

In 1847, Ignaz Semmelweis asked the doctors in the Vienna maternity clinic where he worked to wash their hands in a chlorine solution before examining patients. Deaths on the ward fell from about 18% to about 2% within two months. In healthcare, small changes in practice can have disproportionately large effects, because the healthcare system affects everyone and the stakes are literally life and death. We think AI has the potential to revolutionize healthcare, contributing to a dizzying array of changes. But institutions are failing to adjust to meet the moment, despite widespread interest in