His point is that while we're over here arguing over whether a particular AI is "really" doing certain things (e.g. knows what it's doing), it can still cause tremendous harm if it optimizes or hallucinates in just the right way.
Appreciate these thoughts talolard. I like the idea of partnering with local governments and non-profits, and would welcome any introductions or suggestions there. As you mentioned, most would want to see efficacy in a few pilot regions first, which is what we're currently working on.
If you do, why do you seek growth? Isn't it better, in the long term, to prove yourself, build a stable foundation and a good reputation among clinicians and than scale ?
While there are some regulations (both state and federal) around what we can and can't say publicly, most of our obstacles so far have been the policies of sites like Facebook, Google, Reddit and the like. Many of them have gotten into trouble before with scammy rehab programs preying on vulnerable populations, so they've made it incredibly difficult for startups like us who have something new to offer to even get the word out. We're working on it, but it's still hard.
I agree with you about getting the word out in a grassroots way, and we've definitely been to some of the hardest-hit areas out there. The problem is that 80% of opioid users aren't currently seeking treatment and are just like you and me, but living with a secret problem. Those are the people we want to reach and let them know there are options for them.
Maybe see if you can partner with a national pharmacy to put flyers in opioid prescription bags. Not sure of the pros and cons but it would really get the message out.
If you can get a pharmacy on board with the idea of encouraging their customers to stop buying their products, sure, but most of the worst ope addicts aren't getting their pills from pharmacies…
Facebook and Google both require LegitScript (https://legitscript.com/) certification. We're in the process of going through that and we're told it may take several months.
Oof, where to begin. There are regulations around what states we're allowed to operate in, what kinds of clinicians are able to see patients, how we have to treat patient data, and what the clinical protocols have to look like.
In terms of regulations restricting what we can say publicly, besides FDA regulations around medical claims we're allowed to make, our biggest obstacle is that many of the common channels available to startups for building awareness are restricted or blocked entirely. Facebook and Google, for example, both require LegitScript (https://legitscript.com/) certification. We're in the process of going through that and it may take several months. That's also a requirement for us to be able to do payment processing through services like Stripe, since we qualify as a "high-risk business" since we do both telemedicine and addiction-recovery services.
But even when we do have those certifications, Google, Facebook, Reddit, and many other sites have a blanket ban against targeting users who are part of addiction and addiction-recovery groups.
It's not that we can't comply with any of these regulations (and in fact, we're working on many of them as we speak), but many of them are really onerous and time consuming for a startup given the stage that we're at.
We're primarily focused on medication-assisted treatment with Suboxone. Sorry to hear about your experience irscott, it's certainly not the right solution for everyone.
