From 1,000 Songs in Your Pocket to 1,000,000 Doctors in Your Pocket
Accelerating Progress by Harnessing the Power of Existing Tools, Collaboration and Design
Ever since Steve Jobs held up the first iPod in 2001 to announce “1,000 songs in your pocket” and Nicholas Negroponte launched the One Laptop Per Child project in 2005, I've been dreaming about how we could revolutionize global health by putting "1,000,000 doctors in your pocket."
In June, I had the honor of being the closing speaker at Reinvent Futures' incredible AI + Bio event in San Francisco, titled “How AI Can Accelerate Progress in Health.” There, I shared my vision for how we can achieve ambitious dreams like providing access to a million doctors for every human.
In my brief talk, which you can watch above, I argue that now, more than ever, we need bold challenges akin to NASA's Apollo Moonshot Missions. These missions unified the entire country, mobilizing over 20,000 companies and 400,000 people toward a goal many deemed impossible.
Progress, whether through NASA, Jobs, or Negroponte's ambitious dreams, occurred for three key reasons:
The challenges they pursued were sufficiently hard to attract the world's best and brightest minds.
The missions were inspiring, capturing the world's imagination.
Success wasn't just about technological innovation; it required beautiful design, long-term collaboration, and innovative business models.
It's time for us to dream big again. By leveraging AI, data, and existing technologies, we can make the impossible possible, turning the vision of "1,000,000 doctors in your pocket" into reality. Let's unite in this mission and transform global health for all.
This week’s announcement from Thrive AI Health from Arianna Huffington and Sam Altman is an exciting move in this direction and we have hundreds of inspiring Health Transformers in StartUp Health working on these types of bold health moonshots. But in this moment, it’s time to all push harder, think bigger, be bolder so we can enter a new era of progress.
By harnessing today’s exponential tools and daring to dream, we can put the power of a million doctors in every pocket. The time to dream impossible is now.