I’ve lived for years in the same area of Pittsburgh, whose streets don’t follow a grid design since it’s hilly and pre-dates the automobile. Sometimes before driving to a familiar destination, I’ll check Google Maps, which alerts me to a favored route that I didn’t even know existed. I act on the suggestion which usually turns out great. Is this unique to mapping, or can this happen in other domains of reasoning and discovery? How about healthcare?

Solution Spaces and Artificial Intelligence

Automated mapping helps me discover new routes not because I’m spatially challenged, but because the software explores side streets which motorists like me don’t consider. Instead, motorists tend to consider the larger, familiar streets that head toward their destination. Using Artificial Intelligence (AI) concepts, we say that mapping software searches for solutions within a larger space of possibilities than people do. In chess play, software considers piece sacrifices which none but top players will ever think of. It also occurs in scientific research. This should happen in healthcare, too, where there are huge potential gains for many stakeholders and rich data sets are publicly reported.

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