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- An Erie-based company is leveraging AI to personalize cancer treatment by analyzing patient genetic data and drug efficacy
- While AI adoption is rapidly increasing, its impact on certain industries, like manufacturing, is still limited
- Experts encourage embracing AI as a tool for enhancement rather than fearing job displacement
In the wrong hands, artificial intelligence might seem like an invitation for students to cheat on term papers.
Likewise, AI-powered chatbots can likewise leave some of us clamoring for a real conversation.
And here’s something to worry about. Artificial intelligence, coupled with the growth of automation, will almost certainly lead to lost jobs.
Ken Louie, director of Penn State Behrend’s Economic Research of Erie, said he was part of a 2019 study that found that 19.2% of Erie employees face a high risk of losing their jobs because of automation and artificial intelligence.
But just as many jobs, or perhaps more, are likely to be created, he said.
Possibilities for AI applications abound
But what about the possibilities?
What if AI could help a busy professor better handle his workload or field off-hours questions from students?
What if AI could be used to translate American Sign Language gestures into sentences?
And what if artificial intelligence could allow oncologists to use existing drugs to treat cancer far more effectively?
The answers to those what-if questions are not only being addressed; they are being addressed in Erie.
Mercyhurst professor says AI saves time while maintaining human touch
As chairman of the computing and information science department at Mercyhurst University, Chris Mansour embraces the benefits of AI.
Mansour, who leads the university’s cybersecurity and artificial intelligence efforts, doesn’t want to surrender the benefits of in-person meetings with the students he advises.
But there are also constraints on his time, he said.
“I used to meet with every student for around 45 minutes,” he said. “When you have 120 students, that takes longer than you want.”
Mansour said he’s created an AI-powered assistant that allows students to answer preliminary questions to prepare for what becomes a 20-minute advisory session.
In addition to work done by he and his team on a sign language translation program, Mansour said he’s also developed an AI “study buddy” that allows students to access course-related questions and even take practice tests.
Importantly, he said, the program doesn’t cruise the internet in search of answers.
“It’s limited to information that can be pulled out of notes and course lectures,” he said.
“We will never contemplate replacing the individual with this bot,” he said. “We pride ourselves in our care to our students. We will never remove the human element.”
AI-powered program with strong Erie ties tackles cancer
First Ascent Biomedical, which uses an artificial intelligence platform to help provide personalized cancer treatment, was a graduate of the 2022 Fire Accelerator program sponsored by the Erie Regional Chamber and Growth Partnership.
The company, led by CEO Jim Foote, who lost his son to cancer, isn’t introducing a new cure. Instead, Foote explains that the company uses genetic mapping of an individual patient to analyze how genetically similar patients are likely to respond to a long list of FDA-approved drugs for specific types of tumors.
“Everyone is different,” he said, adding that the way a specific tumor is going to respond will also be different.
“Everybody is looking for the silver bullet,” Foote said. “I think we have enough bullets. We are just not using them in the right way. We are taking all the bullets available and finding out which one works for you.”
Foote said he doesn’t see this combination of genome mapping and artificial intelligence as a replacement for doctors.
“I want to be very clear,” he said. “We use AI to analyze a long list of drugs and we rank them based on efficacy. We don’t tell the doctor to use this drug. The doctor has decades of experience and training. Our job is to supply a ton of data.”
Not only do a growing number of people apparently see value in the work, but the online publication Nature Medicine published a study that showed First Ascent’s technology identified effective treatment for 83% of children with difficult-to-treat cancers.
Millions invested in company’s AI-powered platform
That work has attracted investments.
First Ascent, which began to develop its AI engine in 2018, has attracted more than $10 million in investments, including money from the Erie Chamber and a $6 million investment, announced in January, from Vidal Duart Enterprises.
First Ascent has been in talks with Allegheny Health Network and Gannon University about possible partnerships. At Gannon, that includes the construction of a First Ascent lab inside Gannon’s Institute for Health and Cyber Knowledge.
Gannon spokesman Doug Oathout said Gannon hopes to assemble a financing package to transform the fourth floor of the building into a lab that could provide as many as 100 jobs.
“It’s a big deal,” Oathout said.
Foote said his company aims to make use of what AI does best — processing vast amounts of data and doing it quickly.
“We find every weakness in your tumor and we can deliver a report to your doctor in about a week,” Foote said.
AI isn’t everywhere, but its use is spreading
According to Jordan Fuller, director of entrepreneurship and leader of the Fire Accelerator program at the chamber, AI is only going to grow.
More:When Notre Dame College closed, Mercyhurst offered help. How many accepted?
“The AI cat is out of the bag,” he said. “It took roughly a decade for the internet to reach 50% of the U.S. population, and less than three years for AI to reach that same level of adoption.”
But AI isn’t everywhere, at least not yet.
Five startups are coming to Erie:Why are 2 local companies footing the bill?
Scott Slawson, president of Local 506 of the United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America at Wabtec Corp., can see plenty of applications for AI on the business and engineering side of the business.
But he doesn’t see AI changing the work of building a locomotive.
“It has no bearing on us at this time,” Slawson said. “These are not parts that are identical. Every (locomotive) starts with two big steel I-beams that are never the same. The other thing is the sheer size — 75 feet long and almost 500,000 pounds.”
While many of his students are eager to learn more about artificial intelligence, Mansour understands others are nagged by worry.
He urges those folks to recognize the value of their humanity.
“Don’t be fearful of being replaced by AI. Embrace it,” he said. “AI makes you better at what you do. Humans are the most valuable resources we have.”
(This story was updated to add new information.)
Contact Jim Martin at jmartin@timesnews.com.