Deep Medicine: How Artificial Intelligence Can Make Healthcare Human Again

Deep Medicine: How Artificial Intelligence Can Make Healthcare Human Again by Eric Topol

Health care is in a bad state now. There are huge numbers of people working in the field, yet doctors only spend a few minutes with their patients. They spend time working with (proprietary) medical record systems. They are encouraged to maximize the value units that they produce. There is an emphasis on treating conditions without a focus on the overall quality of life. Doctors are also people and more likely to see what they know or have seen recently.

How can technology help? Currently, technology has allowed for all sorts of fancy testing, images and procedures. But these may be done excessively. AI can help with some of the more tedious parts of health care. AI is getting good at transcribing conversations and can enter medical records. AI can also provide various bots for interacting with patients. (People are even more willing to share details with AI than with real people.) AIs can also take over much of the "grunt" work in radiology. AI can identify many of the suspected issues. Radiologists would then focus on the more unique aspects. They would also have more time to speak with others. AI can also help in scrubbing medical records to help provide more accurate diagnosis. 

In the ideal world, AI will come to take over much of the routine aspects of healthcare, leaving doctors to focus on the personal interactions. Will this come to fruition? Or will AI bots just come in as a substitute way for the health industrial complex to make more money?  Can the system really pivot to focus on overall health and quality of life?