Charles Worthington, Veterans Affairs CTO and Chief AI Officer on Special Veterans Day Podcast

 A special Veterans Day edition of the Washington AI Network Podcast features an exclusive interview with Charles Worthington, chief technology officer (CTO) and the first chief AI officer (CAIO) of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. 

The program, hosted by Tammy Haddad and recorded live on November 10 at The House at 1229, brought together veterans, government innovators, and technology leaders to explore how AI is transforming one of the largest and most complex organizations in the nation. 

In the interview, Worthington reflected on the transformative impact of AI at the VA:
“I think we’re on the cusp of one of the most important technological revolutions that I’m going to experience in my lifetime. And I think we’re really at the early stages of applying AI to the most important problems that the VA has.”

Here are some of the other highlights:

“I think that the ability for the AI to react to your voice, to what you’re seeing and to communicate back with you both visually and audio, it creates a bunch of new interesting computing paradigms.”

“We’ve got a … pilot [on wearables] … where we are equipping both veterans and providers with AR and VR … it can be an interesting way to receive therapy. You can have a group session with other veterans in a virtual reality space, which some veterans might find more comforting than going in person.”

“I think the VA did three million claims this year, which is the most ever, and part of that is enabled by technology like AI.” Watch and listen on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, or the platform of your choice.

Watch and listen on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, or the platform of your choice.