Ep #013: Blythe Karow
Wearables, and the Future of Healthcare: A Conversation with Blythe Karow
We have more health data at our fingertips than ever before.
So... now what?
Wearables can track our sleep, activity, heart rate, blood pressure, and an ever-growing list of health measures. AI is getting better at finding patterns within all that information. But as Blythe Karow puts it:
“We’ve hit a breaking point where there’s too much data. Now we want interpretation.”
In this episode of Bluestock Talk, Allison Komiyama, PhD, FRAPS, sits down with Blythe, CEO of The Karow Advisory Group and creator of The Device Files, for a candid conversation about AI, wearables, digital health, and the increasingly blurry boundary between consumer wellness technology and regulated medical devices.
The possibilities are exciting.
Could AI become the interpretive layer that helps make sense of our health data, recognize potential problems sooner, and get patients to the right clinician faster?
As Blythe points out: “Right now, our journey to diagnosis is years.”
But there’s a flip side. What happens when clinicians become so reliant on AI-powered tools that their own diagnostic skills begin to erode? How do we use technology to augment human expertise without losing the knowledge and judgment we still need humans to have?
Along the way, Allison and Blythe explore:
Why the future of wearables may be less about more data and more about better interpretation
How AI could help shorten the journey to diagnosis
Ambient sensing, implants, and the future of health monitoring
Women’s health, biomarkers, and why patients deserve better answers
And because this is Bluestock Talk, there are also side quests into wood chopping, Punky Brewster, Comic-Con, Dungeons & Dragons, and a possible Bluestocking/Device Files collab.
Key Takeaways
More health data only helps if we can interpret it meaningfully and reliably.
AI could help patients and clinicians recognize important patterns sooner.
Consumer technology, wearables, digital health, AI, and medical devices are converging, creating new opportunities and regulatory questions.
Finding the right balance between technology and human judgment may be one of healthcare’s biggest challenges.
Chapters
00:00 Meet Blythe Karow
04:30 Authenticity, thought leadership & The Device Files
07:30 Career detours, creativity & giving yourself grace
10:45 Wearables & what comes next
12:45 Too much health data: Now what?
16:00 AI, FDA & clinical judgment
18:45 Could AI weaken diagnostic skills?
23:30 Will we even “wear” wearables in the future?
30:30 Longevity, healthy living & behavior change
34:15 Women’s health, biomarkers & better answers
39:00 Comic-Con, Dungeons & Dragons & other side quests
45:00 The MedTech that changed Blythe’s life
About Blythe
Blythe Karow is CEO of The Karow Advisory Group, where she advises executives and boards navigating MedTech, digital health, wearables, AI, and consumer technology. She also writes The Device Files.
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