Take It Easy! Artificial Intelligence Will Be Your New Best Friend!

Session Description: Infection preventionists (IPs) play a crucial role in maintaining patient safety and mitigating the spread of healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) within healthcare settings. As the healthcare landscape continues to evolve, IPs have the opportunity to leverage the power of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance their day-to-day practice and drive more effective infection prevention and control (IPC) strategies. The strategic integration of AI tools will be crucial in empowering IPs to stay ahead of emerging infectious disease challenges and maintain the highest standards of patient safety. AI and its subfields, including machine learning, deep learning, and large language models, can support IPs’ decision-making and streamline their workflow. AI is unlikely to replace the role of IP experts but could instead augment it. However, we must carefully address and mitigate its limitations to ensure its effective implementation. IP experts can be engaged in AI implementation by participating in training and education, designing, validating, and evaluating algorithms, and continuing to advocate for their vital role in patient safety.
This session will address how IPs can embrace these AI-driven innovations to enhance their day-to-day practice, make more informed decisions, and ultimately improve patient outcomes and healthcare quality. Examples of current AI models integrated into HAI surveillance, education and training, environmental cleaning, and IPC process monitoring will be discussed. IPs from different career levels will learn a lot from this exciting and interactive session.