Dr. Al Gorithm Will See You Now

Welcome to another edition of the Neural Net…

While St. Patty’s Day has come and gone and the green beers are put away, we’ve still got some AI gold for you in the newsletter today!

In this issue:

• AI Nurses Are Helping Reduce Nurse Workload—Against Their Will

• xAI Eyes Video Generation With Startup Acquisition

• AI Traffic Cops Get, And Give, The Green Light

• Truckers Newest Hitchhiker—AI Dashcams

• Klarna Goes On AI Diet, Sheds 2,000 Employees In 2 Years

• AMA: What Even Is A Data Scientist?

Dr. Al Gorithm Is Here To Save Nurses—If They Stop Resisting

Hospitals may not be the flashiest AI playground, but with over 100,000 nurses leaving the industry post-pandemic and 190,000 new job openings expected annually through 2032, healthcare is rolling out the red carpet for a little algorithmic assistance.

Where We’re Seeing AI in Healthcare

• Virtual Nurse Assistants: AI-powered chatbots answering patient questions at 2 a.m.—because symptoms always get worse in the middle of the night.

• Patient Monitoring & Alerts: Automated systems track vitals, flag emergencies, and suggest care protocols, relieving nurses of a thousand manual checks.

• Administrative Tasks: Scheduling appointments, verifying patient histories, and sending reminders—like a digital front-desk manager.

• AI-Driven Video Avatars: Companies like Xoltar, in partnership with the Mayo Clinic, are developing digital assistants to guide patients on lifestyle changes—because nothing screams “accountability” like a pixelated pep talk.

Nurses Aren’t Down For AI

Many nurses see AI as more of a headache than a helper, especially when it makes mistakes and forces them to spend extra time double-checking data. Some are worried about job security and a loss of empathy in patient care, while others see it as a powerful tool to be harnessed. Here’s what a few have to say in their own words:

• “Turning over our thought processes to these devices is reckless and dangerous.”

• “Hospitals have been waiting for the moment when they have something that appears to have enough legitimacy to replace nurses.”

• “We should embrace what it can do to augment our care, but we should also be careful it doesn’t replace the human element.”

Meanwhile, hospitals see AI as a critical fix for rising labor costs and staff shortages—particularly when a digital “nurse assistant” can work for a fraction of the price.

The Bottom Line

AI is marching into hospitals whether we’re ready or not. The key question is whether it’ll be a cost-cutter that undercuts patient care or a true partner that lifts pressure off overworked nurses.

In a positive example of the technology, the University of Arkansas Medical Sciences is using AI assistants to make hundreds of pre-surgery calls after nurses’ typical working hours. Patients are more likely to answer during the evening, improving patient engagement while allowing nurses to keep their personal time intact.

What do you think? Should AI play a bigger role in healthcare, or are we moving too fast?

Heard in the Server Room
Quick hits roundup of AI news

• Lights, Camera, Acquisition - xAI Acquires Video Generation Startup

  Elon Musk's xAI just added "Hollywood producer" to its resume by snagging video generation startup Hotshot in its latest shopping spree. The San Francisco AI outfit will help xAI challenge video heavyweights like OpenAI's Sora and Google's Veo 2. The move shouldn't shock anyone who's been paying attention to Musk's Twitter... err, X activity. The tech mogul previously teased a "Grok Video" capability during a January livestream, suggesting his chatbot would be directing its own short films "within a few months." Looks like Musk found his shortcut: why build when you can buy?

• Green Light for AI Traffic Cops

  Charleston-based Omnisight is bringing machine learning to your morning commute with an AI system that thinks like a traffic cop—minus the whistle and hand signals. Using a radar and camera, the system assesses the number of cars waiting at an intersection and adjusts the traffic signals on the fly using powerful processors. It adapts to everything from rush-hour gridlock to surprise downpours faster than your favorite backseat driver can say “It’s red!” Already live in Phoenix and Richmond, early data suggests these AI traffic managers could make your commute shorter and your insurance premiums lower—a win-win that has us honking with approval.

• Big Brother Calls Shotgun, Increases Safety, Decreases Sanity

  AI dashcams are playing backseat driver in America's big rigs by keeping eyes on the road and the driver, catching everything from rolling stops to mid-yawn moments with impressive accuracy (88-99.5% detection rates). The upside? Fleets report 89% fewer accidents and 92% fewer unsafe behaviors. The downside? Privacy concerns are shifting into high gear as truckers question whether constant surveillance is the road to safety or just a fast lane to workplace dystopia.

Klarna’s Quiet AI Coup: How A BNPL Giant Is Automating Its Way To An IPO

Klarna, the Swedish "Buy Now, Pay Later" fintech giant, is quietly emerging as an unsung hero of AI, revolutionizing its operations behind the scenes while the world watches bigger tech players.

Klarna has aggressively embraced AI, cutting its workforce by 21% for two consecutive years as automation takes center stage. By the end of 2024, Klarna's full-time workforce had shrunk to 3,422, down from 4,352 in 2023 and 5,527 in 2022.

The 20 yr-old company credits AI for boosting efficiency and helping it bounce back to profitability in 2024, raking in $2.8 billion in revenue. In addition, Klarna just signed a lucrative deal to be the exclusive buy now, pay later loans for retail giant Walmart, replacing arch rival Affirm. Klarna is proving that in fintech, AI isn’t just a tool—it’s the new workforce.

On the flip side, a former Klarna manager told The New York Times that the AI hype was more smoke and mirrors than groundbreaking innovation—suggesting that downsizing could be framed as a win if it looked like the company had mastered automation.

Klarna’s AI-powered overhaul is setting the stage for a blockbuster IPO, planning to list on the NYSE under “KLAR” — because “BOT” was probably a little too on the nose.

Bottom line: Klarna’s betting big on AI to do more with less—just don’t be surprised if their next CEO is a chatbot.