At CES in 2012, Qualcomm and the XPRIZE Foundation launched the $10 million Qualcomm Tricorder XPRIZE competition. They challenged the world's creative geniuses to devise a portable, wireless device weighing less than five pounds, that could accurately diagnose 13 health conditions, while monitoring 5 real-time health vital signs, all in a minimally invasive fashion. But they went even further by insisting that the device work in the hands of a consumer (independent of a professional healthcare worker or facility).
On April 12th, after five years of intensive competition from a field of more than 300 teams (including entries with backing from major companies and governments), Qualcomm and XPRIZE announced their winner: Philadelphia's own Final Frontier Medical Devices (newly incorporated as Basil Leaf Technologies). This small self-funded team, led by engineer-turned ER doctor, Basil Harris (and his brother, George) won the top prize of $2.5 million - with the promise of additional underwriting to follow from Qualcomm and its partners, including The Roddenberry Foundation.

Technology used to be expensive to build, and relatively inexpensive labor was often the better return. AI has changed that calculation for certain kinds of work. Tasks that once required entire teams can now be automated relatively cheaply. I don’t think CEOs should pretend otherwise. I do think they need to be honest about what actually changed.