By Daniel A. Vorobiof, MD. June 2024.
I read with interest the excellent article by Anant Madabhushi, PhD, and Jame Abraham, MD, FACP, in the May 10, 2024, issue of The ASCO Post, entitled “AI in Cancer Care: Embrace the Change.” I wanted to add information on how an available AI Cancer Mentor application (app) has become a beneficial supportive tool for patients with cancer and their caregivers, supplying them with valuable and pertinent information, from the moment of a cancer diagnosis through the full cancer journey.
With the thought of optimizing access to care for patients with cancer, reducing disparities, and providing a 24/7 coach to navigate the difficult care path, GPS style, we at Belong.Life (a global oncology social and professional platform) created a conversational cancer mentor app nicknamed Dave AI. This large language model technology is a tool that provides the cognitive assistant with organized and valuable information to be delivered in a relevant and understandable way.
Before its launch, the Dave AI Cancer Mentor was trained on an extensive knowledge base of more than 80 million discussions between patients and physicians. Over 8 years, it has accumulated the knowledge of many physicians, with 100,000 global patients involved within the Belong.Life app. The training process included anonymizing and aggregating personal data to ensure patients’ privacy and security, as well as adding information from current therapeutic guidelines and supplying up-to-date data.
There are several distinct characteristics of this AI Cancer Mentor, such as being a bridge between patients and their physicians, helping to strengthen the person-to-person relationship. Dave AI provides around-the-clock support and guidance to patients with cancer and caregivers—wherever they are in the world.
The unique platform, patented by Belong.Life, is known as the ARCH Methodology, which stands for Accuracy, Responsibility, Compliance, and Hallucination-free. AI must always answer accurately; if Dave AI does not know the answer, he cannot invent it. He will say, “I cannot answer.” Telling an AI tool what not to answer is as important as telling it what and how to reply.
Dave AI is free to download on any platform (mobile or Web-based). And it is compliant with HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act), GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation), and ISO (International Organization for Standardization). Dave AI is an active care companion; it does not aim to substitute human medical involvement in the care of our patients.
In closing, we concur with Dr. Madabhushi and Dr. Abraham: the time to embrace the AI change is here and now.
Daniel A. Vorobiof, MD, Chief Medical Director of Belong.Life.
