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Nancy Morgan
CEO Ellis Morgan Enterprises
Former Intelligence Community Chief Data Officer
Client Advisor, The Cantellus Group
“What is one thing you want everyone to know about AI technologies?
Data is key — getting the right data, to the right humans and machines, at the right time and in the right form. While everyone is excited about the potential of AI technologies, each organization must have a solid data foundation and put in place proper data management practices to support the safe and trustworthy use of AI for any particular use case. Everyone in an organization has a responsibility to do their part to ensure data and model quality and integrity. This work is not a one-and-done proposition, but an ongoing effort, during design, development and testing of a capability and after it is initially released into production and beyond.
What is a particularly innovative and socially beneficial use of AI you’ve seen in the past year?
A young relative of mine has a very rare disease where there is not enough funding to research innovative treatments, create new paths to clinical trials and/or develop a cure. Researchers are working with AI to rapidly organize, search and compare large volumes of data from other families of diseases that share certain characteristics, which is accelerating their ability to identify and rapidly test out treatment options to understand how this disease might respond.
The research approach is based on a collaborative, international public-private partnership, and AI is a true force- and staffing-multiplier. They are also able to look at data from different optics — regional, ethnicity, age range, etc. — to discern if those differences could affect outcomes. AI could fundamentally change life expectancy for people struggling with rare diseases.”