Artificial Intelligence In Medical Care
Artificial intelligence (AI) is beginning to change medicine in ways that would have seemed improbable only a few years ago.
Patients can now ask AI to explain laboratory results, medical reports, diseases, and treatment choices in ordinary language. Doctors are using AI to help write medical notes, review records, interpret images, and support some clinical decisions. Researchers are using it to search enormous amounts of biological data and potentially speed the development of new drugs and treatments.
I am particularly interested in AI because it may change the role of the patient.
Doctors have limited time, medical information is increasingly complicated, and patients often don't know which questions to ask. AI may give us a powerful new tool for becoming better informed before and after a medical visit.
But there are important reasons for caution. AI can be wrong—even when it sounds convincing. Different AI systems may give different answers to the same medical question, and even respected medical organizations sometimes disagree about the best treatment.
The challenges are particularly important for older adults, who often have several medical conditions and take multiple medications. An AI recommendation that seems reasonable for one condition may be inappropriate when the person's overall health is considered.
Questions about medical privacy and how much we should rely on AI also remain.
This section looks at AI and medicine from three perspectives:
How should patients use AI?
How are doctors using AI?
Will AI help us develop better drugs and treatments?
AI is developing extraordinarily quickly, so some of what is described here will undoubtedly change. My goal is not to predict exactly where it will lead, but to understand what AI can already do, where it may be headed, and how we can use it intelligently without trusting it blindly.
For help understanding medical conditions, treatments, and research, visit Reliable Medical Information & Research Resources.