From spotting cancer to managing road traffic, here’s how some local industries use the burgeoning technology.
By Ryan Lynch – Staff Writer, Orlando Business Journal
The chief digital and information officer with Orlando Health said the health system is using the growing technology to help detect nodules in patients, something it has done since 2022. It looks at electronic medical records and helps identify patients who would be at risk for lung cancer so they can be reached out to proactively.
Using the technology, the system has been able to catch patients who would not have known they had signs of cancer otherwise, said Mattis. “We’re saving lives.”
Orlando Health is not alone in deploying AI, as others in education, health care and transportation also are using or preparing to implement the technology.
Florida has one of the largest shares of firms in the U.S. that use AI in producing goods or services, according to the U.S. Census Bureau Business Trends and Outlook Survey. The survey also tracked several industries that expect to see growth in the use of AI in the workplace, including health care and transportation.
With that in mind, Orlando Business Journal looked at some of the industries locally where AI is being applied the fastest.
Health care
Dr. Victor Herrera, chief clinical officer and senior vice president of AdventHealth Central Florida, said coming out of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Altamonte Springs-based nonprofit health care system put a focus on artificial intelligence innovations.
As of this spring, there were more than 50 AI applications in use at AdventHealth. Areas the system is focused on include operational efficiencies like billing and scheduling procedures, boosting clinical safety via providing alerts and improving employee satisfaction and patient care.
AdventHealth also focuses on avoiding bias in care as well as reassuring patients that their doctors and nurses will not be replaced by AI. In the future, Herrera expects the technology to help free up time for less administrative tasks and more face-to-face care.
“A nurse spends close to half of their time typing things into a computer. That’s not the reason the nurses or other health care workers went into the industry. It will evolve into a lot less time doing things like that and a lot more time interacting with the patient.”
At Orlando Health, examples of using AI include selecting people who can participate in its hospital-at-home program, as the technology helps sort through medical records for the criteria required for participation. It also has AI monitoring to help with patients who need a sitter to make sure they don’t fall and are taking their medicine.
Even with the fast pace of adoption, Orlando Health has been intentional about what AI projects it takes on.
“We are only just scratching the surface, and we are being discriminating about what we do because we can’t do everything,” Mattis said. ”We can’t afford to work with every vendor that comes to us and says ‘try our new AI tool’ and just grab it and run with it.”
Laura Brattain, an associate professor of medicine in the Department of Internal Medicine at the UCF College of Medicine, has focused on biomedical AI, medical ultrasound and surgical robotics in her research. She expects AI to help address some of the challenges facing the industry.
“There’s a huge shortage of medical personnel, and at the same time, we are facing an aging population,” Brattain said. “AI could play a major role in being a virtual assistant or combining with robotics for automated support. ”
Transportation
Then there’s MetroPlan Orlando and Seminole County, which are partnering with two companies to use artificial intelligence in traffic management.
The companies and the metropolitan planning organization will work together on a pilot program in Seminole County to overlay AI over traffic camera feeds. The tech will use the existing cameras to track signal performance, congestion and accidents in real-time.
The program will last through March 2025 and focus on 15 intersections, with the goal of starting in August. Omaha, Nebraska-based HDR will use the data to track near-miss collisions as a part of an effort to help MetroPlan Orlando reduce danger and help commuters have a better experience.
Lara Bouck, manager of project development for MetroPlan Orlando, said the AI would empower quicker changes than just human monitoring and reviewing traffic cameras.
“Not to say this could not be done with people, but this requires eyes on a camera or someone reviewing hours of video,” Bouck said. “There’s some of that at the traffic management centers in the region, but the AI superpowers how much you can monitor.”
She added that the intent is to use the program as a “kicking of the tires,” to look at the findings and see if there is an opportunity for other counties and cities to consider using the technology. Other counties in the region are working on similar programs. For instance, Osceola County is working with Watertown, Massachusetts-based VHB and Detroit-based Derq on a program to monitor intersections to help implement changes that encourage safety.
Other uses Orlando-based AI startup Pete Learning has partnered with several local companies that want to use AI to provide employee training.
Pete Learning, founded by Jacques Fu, has contracts with Orlando Venues, Addition Financial, Orlando City SC and the Orlando Pride. The company’s platform allows for employers to customize training for their workers.
Employers can take a prompt and Pete’s technology allows for a full custom course to be created with several units. For example, Orlando Venues uses the technology because it can be hard to gather employees in one place for training.
In hospitality, the Wyndham Orlando Resort & Conference Center uses an AI-powered robot bartender named Sara to mix drinks with tequila. Theme parks like Universal Destinations & Experiences also have patented uses for the technology which could be used for their rides.
Further, the wealth management and financial sectors are using AI for practical workplace applications, such as improving efficiency by creating meeting notes, generating leads for potential clients, drafting financial plans and client briefs, and supporting compliance reporting. “I liken AI tools for trained professionals to the advent of spreadsheets for accountants,” said Richard Buttimer, dean and director of the University of North Florida’s Fintech Academy in Jacksonville. “It didn’t make accountants obsolete. Spreadsheets just made accountants live more efficiently.”
Future of the technology
Mubarak Shah, founding director of the UCF Center for Research in Computer Vision, expects the growth of AI to put an emphasis on more computer science classes for students from an early age. “It will change completely how we teach and what we teach because it is so new.”
According to Code.org’s 2023 report, eight states require computer science for graduation from high school, with Florida not currently among those states. Access to foundational computer science classes for public high school students in Florida has grown from 23%
in 2017-18 to 41% in 2021-22.
Florida still ranks in the bottom 10 among states in the nation and is below the national average of 57.5%.
Meanwhile, people also are looking into what the technology will mean for the workforce.
One of the common concerns is that the technology will replace jobs done by humans. Goldman Sachs projects AI could replace the equivalent of 300 million full-time jobs, though Goldman Sachs economists Joseph Briggs and Devesh Kodnani said in their
report that the replacement of workload likely will not lead to mass layoffs.
“Although the impact of AI on the labor market is likely to be significant, most jobs and industries are only partially exposed to automation and are thus more likely to be complemented rather than substituted by AI,” the economists wrote in the report.
Herrera sees the potential for new jobs to be created, such as those interacting with language models to get the best results. “When you look back, technology has always resolved on having more new jobs created and not fewer jobs. AI has opened all of these new areas where we need humans thinking about it.”
Next-gen training: UCF builds research, workforce pipeline for AI
The University of Central Florida is working to grow its prominence in AI research and increase the number of students learning how to apply the emerging technology for employers.
Through its Artificial Intelligence Initiative, the college has worked on hiring 30 new faculty in its engineering and computer science, medicine, sciences, optics and photonics, and business colleges to focus on research.
Mubarak Shah, founding director of the UCF Center for Research in Computer Vision, said 10 faculty members already have been hired, with more hiring coming up across those programs.
Shah said the region eventually may become an artificial intelligence hub like Austin, Texas; Boston and Silicon Valley in California. The university’s decision to grow its prominence in AI research and workforce development would help draw tech-focused companies to the region, he said.
“We need to have a critical mass of faculty and support from the city, county and state.”
The university is seeking $75 million in recurring state funds in its 2025-26 Florida Legislative budget request to add up to 180 faculty so it can grow its College of Engineering and Computer Science to enroll 20,000 students, up from 14,487 as of the 2023-2024 academic year. That would include a focus on growing the workforce in AI, data analytics and cybersecurity.
The university’s efforts in AI also include boosting education opportunities for students.
A UCF program called STRONG-AI, which stands for STEM Opportunities for Nurtured Growth in AI, enhances a National Science Foundation-supported mentorship program that since 2010 has provided more than 100 low-income UCF students at the college with mentoring and other resources. The program supports 10 to 15 students yearly.
The program provides a maximum of $15,000 per year for undergraduates and $20,000 per year for graduate students, with a maximum length of five years.
Brian Moore, STRONG-AI program manager and associate professor in UCF’s Department of Mathematics, said he sees the change in students who may never have had a person encourage them in education. “When they are admitted to the program and receive the scholarship, things change for the student instantly. Suddenly, there’s a change in belief.”
States with the largest share of firms who use AI
This is the share of firms that use AI in producing goods or services in the state. The total does not focus on companies with a multistate footprint, where there is a 5.7% share of businesses using AI.
Colorado: 7.4%
D.C.: 7.2%
Florida:6.6%
Delaware: 6.5%
Utah: 6.5%
Source: U.S. Census Bureau Business Trends and Outlook Survey
Industries with the highest share of current adoption of AI in the U.S.
Information: 18%
Professional, scientific and technical services: 12%
Educational services: 9%
Real estate and rental and leasing: 8%
Management: 8%
Finance and Insurance: 7%
Source: U.S. Census Bureau Business Trends and Outlook Survey
The big number
$613 billion
The projected size of global market for AI in health care in 2034, according to Precedence Research