#SmartSpeakers for #HealthTech is that really that smart?

It is always nice to be ask to go on the BBC. Especially on #TheOneShow (you can see my bit about 16 mins in) and to talk about something I love. Which is #healthtech and the potential of technology to change people’s lives for the better. Which is what the revolution in #smartspeakers and home care has the potential to do.

Let’s not kid ourselves the #smartspeaker revolution is upon us.

“Devices like Amazon Alexa and Google Home have started to become an integral part of every smart home or office, with voice-enabled smart speakers predicted to reach 55% of US households by 2022”

However, the question is should there be used for health tech? The UK’s National Health Service (NHS) has seemed to answer this. With what it claims is a world first: a partnership with Amazon’s Alexa to offer health advice from the NHS website.

BUT… should Amazon’s Alexa be used as this? A voice-activated assistant which automatically searches NHS web pages to find answers to medical questions. As f you work in tech you know Amazon’s playbook. And so some people have pointed out. That Amazon is known to have major ambitions in the healthcare industry.

For example, during 2018 the firm took a number of steps in this direction - including pairing up with Omron Healthcare to allow a blood pressure monitor to be controlled via Alexa. It also bought PillPack but that’s another point.

As wiser people than I have said in America:

“Amazon has the entire $3.5 trillion healthcare industry on edge.”

Which is over there.

But over here should we not be worried for the NHS?

Isn’t this all for the good of the people?

Don’t get me wrong. On the fact of it using voice recognition and technology to help people sounds like an interesting proposition. Especially in the wake of the government trying to encourage people to judge their symptoms better. And avoid coming into the country’s overburdened GP practices when they don’t need to. As more than 50 million GP consultations each year fall into this category of "not really needed".

So we know there is a problem. We also know the NHS needs to save money. So perhaps technology IS a great way to do this. For example - there are complaints for blocked noses, dandruff and travel sickness,

“costing the NHS billions that could be better spent providing care to those who need it,”

says Farah Jameel, British Medical Association (BMA) GP committee executive team IT lead. So getting advice on the NHS website or at dinner time asking Alexa about a sore throat might be a positive step. With “Amazon directing them to a reliable source that is clinician-led,” Jameel adds. Especially for patients with visual impairments or other disabilities. But will it really work as intended?

I don’t know – from the random test done on The One Show – I am not so sure.

For example, when you say to some of the speakers

I have cut myself.

They tell you to phone the Samaritans.

So it’s NOT that good. And there’s more…

As privacy campaigners have raised data protection concerns. But Amazon say all information will be kept confidential. But confidential from whom? And haven’t we heard this before.

What if Amazon starts to let their insider information inform their advertising algorithm? What if they sell this data OR let this data be used by other people? Perhaps even by insurance companies and the like. Suddenly your list of aliments might take on a sinister twist and not just from a misplace google search.

However the government in the UK are all up for moving more and more into use technology for #healthtech. And so are we at The Landing. Which is why we (with Up Ventures) are holding our health tech accelerator. Sonsored by Google and Norvatis and local companies like Push Doctor and Apadmi.

We are also working with Health Innovation Manchester and Salford Royal whilst the national government has set up a unit, NHSX, to boost the use of digital technologies in the health service.

So why worry? Should you worry at all?

Well, for those in the know – the hardware around smart speakers and some of the software is NOT the most resilient. And so many people have pointed out like Director Silkie Carlo from civil liberty group Big Brother Watch.

"Any public money spent on this awful plan rather than frontline services would be a breathtaking waste. Healthcare is made inaccessible when trust and privacy is stripped away, and that's what this terrible plan would do."

According to them and a couple of other people I have spoken to this latest move

"Is a data protection disaster waiting to happen."

And let’s be honest., other experiments to improve NHS accessibility using technology have had mixed results. A partnership with #healthtech firm Babylon, for example, which offers patient consultations via a smartphone app, has been criticized for gaming the UK’s healthcare system. Some doctors are saying that the app, much beloved by investors and MP Matt Hancock, mainly attracts young, low-maintenance patients, while pushing harder and more expensive cases back to regular GPs.

It, in the end does an Uber, creaming off the top of an ecosystem and adding value only where is can take it away economically for an advantage. Which seems to be what technology companies are doing more and more. So can we really…

Have #tech4good and #healthtech that help society?

I think so – I really do. I think with the rest of #technology and things like chatbots and AI and all sorts of clever things around sensors and data collection. We can have #5G powered smart hospitals and care homes, and connected ambulances, and even drones saving lives. I know this will all happen. And hopefully some of this will happen in MediaCityUK first.

The question is – in the end – who will own the data from it all. We will or will one of the BIG four. And more importantly, who do we trust with this data? And all this power?

Unsurprisingly, for a light hearted brief look into smart speakers – that was left out of programme ??

https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m0007swq/the-one-show-19082019

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· Scary on #Halloween is do some #games mean to #trickortreat you? @ukmarketinghelp gets interviewed about it on @BBCWatchdog

· Football: a beautiful game and a wonderful #business metaphor.

· What's your why? Or what's your why not? #MondayMotivation for #Tech4Good and #GMFutureOfHealth.

About Me: Apols to do this in the 3rd person....

Dan Sodergren is a professional technology and digital marketing trainer and occasional futurist keynote speaker. He is a digital marketing trainer based in Manchester with Great Marketing Works. He trains companies and individuals in digital, social and mobile marketing. He also sometimes gets to talk about it all on radio and is even occasionally on the BBC.

He is an early stage investor in HR tech company FLOCK and now works as head of business services and marketing at the MediaCityUK innovation tech hub - The Landing.

The Landing @ MediaCity UK is workspace, community, business support, user experience testing labs, maker lab and events. The Landing is the technology enterprise incubator for high-growth companies at the heart of MediaCityUK.

Find out more about Dan Sodergren on bit.ly/DanSodergren

References for this blog...

https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m0007swq/the-one-show-19082019

https://www.justaskgemalto.com/en/voice-recognition-software-work/

https://techcrunch.com/2018/06/28/amazon-buys-pillpack-an-online-pharmacy-that-was-rumored-to-be-talking-to-walmart/?guccounter=1&guce_referrer_us=aHR0cHM6Ly91ay5zZWFyY2gueWFob28uY29tLw&guce_referrer_cs=iqwRPDTIrQf6SIBJFFgikw

https://www.wired.co.uk/article/amazon-alexa-nhs

https://www.cbinsights.com/research/report/healthcare-trends-q2-2019/

https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m0007swq/the-one-show-19082019

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-48925345

https://www.theverge.com/2019/7/10/20688654/amazon-alexa-health-advice-uk-nhs

https://www.wired.co.uk/article/amazon-alexa-nhs

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-48937663

https://www.justaskgemalto.com/en/voice-recognition-software-work/