On April 10, pharmaceutical big Merck introduced the launch of the Alexa Diabetes Problem, a contest geared toward encouraging the event of software program purposes that use Amazon’s Alexa expertise to assist sufferers with a latest prognosis of Kind 2 diabetes. The competitors builds upon Merck’s exploration of the capabilities of Amazon Lex, the machine studying expertise that undergirds Amazon Alexa by facilitating the event of “conversational interfaces” for purposes, to reinforce and enrich capabilities to handle and ameliorate persistent ailments. Kimberly Park, Vice President, Buyer Technique & Innovation, International Human Well being, Merck, remarked on the importance of Merck’s utilization of Amazon Internet Companies to deal with persistent ailments as follows:
Merck has a deep heritage of tackling persistent ailments by way of our medicines, and we’ve been increasing into different methods to assist, past the capsule. We’re excited to leverage the AWS Cloud to search out progressive methods to leverage digital options, reminiscent of voice-activated expertise, to assist help higher outcomes that might make a distinction within the lives of these affected by persistent situations like diabetes.
Right here, Park feedback on Merck’s enlargement into modalities of therapy that vary “past the capsule” in what quantities to a disruptive enlargement of the corporate’s conventional enterprise mannequin. Powered by Luminary Labs and sponsored by Merck, the Alexa Diabetes Problem will present incentives for chosen candidates to make use of Amazon Alexa in addition to Amazon Internet Companies. Within the first spherical of the competitors, 5 entrants can be awarded $25,000 along with $100,000 in AWS credit. The entrants will subsequently obtain entry to mentoring sources about their proposed options and have the chance to additional develop and refine their apps earlier than vying for the grand prize of $125,000. The Alexa Diabetes Problem illustrates elevated curiosity in exploration of the intersection of machine studying, cloud computing and healthcare on the a part of each expertise corporations in addition to healthcare organizations and pharmaceutical companies. Furthermore, within the case of AWS, the collaboration with Merck underscores Amazon CEO Bezos’s curiosity in embracing the up to date pattern of machine studying and synthetic intelligence as elaborated in a latest letter to AWS shareholders. Study extra concerning the Alexa Diabetes Problem right here.
