Amazon Gives AI to Harvard Hospital in Tech’s Latest Health Push

Alexa won’t be replacing doctors anytime soon, but Amazon says artificial intelligence can help hospitals become more efficient.

The internet giant said March 4 that it’s working with a Harvard-affiliated teaching hospital in Boston to test how AI can simplify medical care. It’s the latest sign of powerhouse tech companies like Amazon and Google deepening their reach into America’s $3.5 trillion health-care market.

While the tech industry has high hopes that powerful computing tools can improve diagnoses and treatment, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center’s first projects with Amazon.com Inc. are less about sophisticated therapies and more about making day-to-day tasks ...