The Juicero of A.I. : IBM Watson Health

If our society cannot put greed aside to protect cancer patients, then what is left of us?

It would be wishful thinking to say IBM is the Juicero of Artificial Intelligence. In fact, it is far worse than that. Juicero sold an over-engineered and thus over-priced wifi enabled juicer. But, its customers were still able to drink juice. When it realized its shortcomings, it made attempts to resolve them. And, when it realized it couldn’t resolve those shortcomings, it ended operations and offered refunds to its customers. IBM on the other hand, sold and continues to sell an overpriced but substandard artificial intelligence platform for the point of care. And, its customers are getting far less than sweet juice. When its shortcomings were brought to light, shortcomings that cost MD Anderson cancer research center tens of millions of dollars, in my opinion it did not make genuine attempts to remedy the fundamental flaws of their system.

I am the inventor of the granted patent for “personalized medical treatment provision software”, which addresses many if not all of the flaws that are being exposed about IBM’s A.I , and I never received a call. They chose to set their team of lawyers to try to fight my & other inventors granted patents in an attempt to get their own predictive analytics patent application granted, unsuccessfully! They didn’t even offer a refund to cancer center after leaving them with nothing they could use. Instead, they took their ill gotten gains pumped them into more deceptive advertising to endanger even more cancer patients. IBM ,with Watson health, may be committing one of the biggest frauds in history and it’s affecting real people that need help the most: https://www.statnews.com/2017/09/05/watson-ibm-cancer/ . Let us not forget that Bernie Madoff was chairman of the Nasdaq; it is when we let those with money and power go unchecked that the worst things happen in our society.

Personally, this is a matter close to my heart for multiple reasons. I built my company with one purpose: to look out for those that can not look out for themselves by inventing the technologies that can positively impact their lives. So, if I don’t speak out for them now, then I have already failed. If I don’t speak up for them now, I know that no one may ever do so. I can’t just watch and ignore reality for the sake of business as usual.

It seems that creating real value is no longer a priority. I, however, don’t wish to receive any part of potentially ill gotten gains. In my opinion and experience as an inventor, IBM is not including the best technologies into the solution that it spends millions advertising. That is very concerning. It would rather pay teams of lawyers to fight inventors rights than work with real inventors and respect patent rights. All while they try to file for frivolous patents which they in turn bully other companies with… quiet ironic.

The health centers that find it acceptable and try to profit as well off their patient data should also be held accountable. My patent granted invention, addresses and solves a majority if not all the issues that are pointed out which make IBM watson health such an inferior solution. One quote is particularly concerning, “And at foreign hospitals, physicians complained its advice is biased toward American patients and methods of care.” . This is completely unacceptable and shows just how IBM may lack a fundamental understanding of Artificial Intelligence and its future.

Artificial Intelligence will unleash many possibilities that will change the landscape of life as we know it, continuing to give IBM and other companies with questionable backgrounds undeserved funds and a free pass on all their failings to bully their way as the frontrunners will have unimaginable repercussions that our civilization will only realize once it is too late.

If you do not wish to take my warning as that of a seasoned software engineer & artificial intelligence inventor, then look at it inversely. Why is a multibillion dollar company comfortable selling you a point of care solution that has deficiencies which even a teenager was able to foresee? The news agencies that continue to publish IBM as the inventors or leaders of “personalized medicine” without doing any fact-checking or investigation of any kind are doing themselves a huge disservice. As automation with A.I. becomes more prevalent in content creation, reputation will be the primary factor in deciding the fate of news publishers & journalists. If you choose to be biased and don’t bother with facts, why will anyone want to read your content rather than that of an unbiased and fact savvy A.I. ?

When engaging with interested reporters & journalists my company always stresses the fact that our accuracy rates are transparent and that they are openly accessible to them and anyone. Where are the accuracy rates and statistics for IBM Watson Health’s performance? Why does that not matter? How is its accuracy even being calculated? Does that not matter either? Is IBM’s word even above the value of the lives of Cancer patients?

“Fraud” is defined as “wrongful or criminal deception intended to result in financial or personal gain”. IBM has definitely gained financially, taking tens of millions of dollars from MD Anderson Cancer Center . Was some deception involved? Perhaps the endless unverified positive articles the media ran, the overly optimistic ads that ran or the claims made to the health institutions? I think those affected deserve for this to be looked into and any/all responsible parties to be held accountable. My opinion is that there was likely fraud in at least three major areas:

i.) Relating to the quality of their system.

ii.) Related to their status as the frontrunner in technology for personalized medicine

iii.) The associated cost of a personalized medical treatment provision solution.

From the analysis in the Stat News article, the current solution IBM watson health is pushing is not good A.I. . In fact, it isn’t even good software. It is mediocrity. And mediocrity at scale is still mediocrity. If it is allowed to spread across the world, it will just be mediocre technology driving the cost of healthcare up for people that can barely afford current costs. If this article is true, then the fact that IBM and some health centers have been putting patients lives at its mercy without thorough analysis is a big shame for A.I and the healthcare industry.

My first summer job , after my freshman year in college, was as a researcher in a Cancer research lab. My first professional mentor was a brilliant leading Cancer research physician scientist. I’ve had first-hand view of the sacrifices, dedication and effort that those who are genuinely seeking to make breakthroughs for patients put in on a daily basis. But, if our society cannot put greed aside to protect cancer patients, then what is left of us?

If you believe in building technology that empowers people, feel free to reach out to me: “pkwete@expatinc.com” .

After years building a tech startup and finally having its granted patent block an IBM predictive analytics patent application, the simplest and fastest way to financial success would have been to knock on IBM’s door and ask how much they are willing to pay to acquire it. But, knowing what I know, choosing not to voice my real opinion because of possible financial gain would be a huge disservice.

The Juicero of A.I. : IBM Watson Health was originally published in Hacker Noon on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.