The brief · 31 March 2026

The AI brief, 2026-03-31

Another day, another set of hours clawed back from humans by AI, from the doctor's office to the bank appointment. And while regulators keep drafting rules, the models just keep rolling out on schedule.

2 min read J / K to navigate

ECRI Drops 14 Rules for Using AI Without Botching a Diagnosis

The organization just named AI-assisted diagnosis the top patient safety risk of the year, ahead of everything else on the list. The core message: AI proposes, the clinician decides, never the other way around. If your hospital or practice is already running one of these tools, expect these recommendations to show up in an internal protocol within a few months.

practitioners › The 14 recommendations cover governance, staff training, patient consent, and human-factors evaluation, per an ECRI report dated March 31, 2026.

ECRI →

Bank of America's AI gives advisors back 4 hours per client meeting

This echoes what Merrill announced for its financial advisors back in late March. Bank of America is now extending that same efficiency gain across the entire meeting lifecycle, not just post-meeting paperwork, but prep, note-taking, and follow-up too. If your bank suddenly rolls out a better-prepared advisor, this is likely what's running behind the scenes.

practitioners › AI-Powered Meeting Journey spans the full meeting cycle (prep, notes, follow-up) and targets up to 4 hours saved per appointment for wealth advisors.

www.pymnts.com →

Google launches Veo 3.1 Lite, a cheaper option for bulk video generation

Generating video with Veo used to get expensive fast once you started running lots of iterations. This Lite version is built for exactly that: quick iteration and high-volume runs without blowing the budget. Google is also using this release to retire gemini-2.5-flash-lite-preview-09-2025, so migrate off it if you're still relying on that model.

practitioners › veo-3.1-lite-generate-preview, available now, gemini-2.5-flash-lite-preview-09-2025 shut down the same day.

ai.google.dev →

Agora updates its conversational voice engine for AI

Agora provides the technical layer behind many real-time voice assistants, the kind found in customer service or coaching apps. This 2.5 release targets latency and conversation reliability, not a flashy consumer-facing feature. What it actually changes for apps that integrate it remains to be seen.

practitioners › Conversational AI Engine v2.5, released March 31, 2026, available through the Agora API for developers already on the platform.

Agora →

California Sets Its Own Bar for AI Vendors

Newsom signed an executive order pushing California state agencies to certify AI vendors on safety, civil rights, and bias mitigation. It doesn't bind private companies directly, but it sketches out a standard other states could well copy. The open question is whether Washington lets it stand.

practitioners › Executive Order N-5-26, signed March 30, 2026, sets up a direct clash with the federal deregulatory push.