LIVE FROM MWC25 BARCELONA: Maven Clinic CEO Kate Ryder (pictured, right) and Databricks chief AI officer Naveen Rao reflected on the disruptive potential of generative AI (genAI), while cautioning interface friction remains an obstacle to widespread adoption.

In a keynote, Ryder spotlighted the technology’s revolutionary role in patient care and healthcare innovation. While AI has been widely deployed for diagnostics, telemedicine and administrative efficiency, she emphasised that genAI could be key to democratising access to medical information and support, particularly in the US.

“When you’re walking into a hospital setting that, for instance, doesn’t or can’t practice evidence-based care in women’s health, you still have access to information in your pocket at your fingertips that can help protect you in those scenarios.”

According to Ryder, approximately 30 per cent of “generation z” patients seek medical information from social media platform TikTok, out of which 80 per cent of fertility information is published by creators without medical credentials. With the rise in online misinformation, Ryder underscored that genAI could be pivotal to regaining information accuracy in an industry where “you’re constantly in the business of earning trust with patients”.

However, Rao presented a critical outlook with claims that genAI adoption remains underwhelming. While high development costs previously hindered widespread uptake of the technology, Rao argued that even the emergence of cost-efficient models such as DeepSeek have failed to cause a “massive disruption where we see genAI everywhere”.

Instead, he pointed to complex user interfaces (UI) with a lack of broader applicability as a key challenge. “We need more than chatbots. Chatbots are a general way to express intent. In human language, I can express actually any intent. However, it’s very cumbersome.”

Rao suggested that more intuitive interfaces, data unification, and customisable, contextualised responses across devices will be crucial innovations for mass genAI adoption.

As the race to commercialise genAI accelerates, both Rao and Ryder underscored that the technology’s growth hinges on the industry’s focus on user experience.