4 answers
Jacob
Student
Greeley, Colorado
1
Question
Updated
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With the fast-growing usage of AI in medicine, how will pediatrician and other medical doctors be affected? Will doctors even be needed in the future?
I am a high school senior getting ready to go to college. I want to study biology and later do medical school to become a pediatrician. However, I have a fear that with the advancing usage of AI, a job like mine won't be needed.
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4 answers
Adaobi Maryann Ezeogidi
Medical Assistant
31
Answers
Abia, AB
Updated
Adaobi Maryann’s Answer
Hi Jacob,
Don't be afraid to pursue your career choice. AI will never "and cannot" replace humans. Think of it this way: humans created AI.
Humans are not perfect; we make mistakes, correct them, learn, unlearn, relearn, and grow. How can AI suddenly become perfect?
God, who made humans, gave us very unique features to help us navigate this world—and AI is just one of the tools humans have created to make life easier. Of course, we don’t expect perfection in this world, but there is a level of satisfaction that only humans can bring, which AI cannot:
•Empathy and care.
•Emotions such as love, fear, joy, pain, and compassion.
•The ability to think, reason, imagine, and understand meaning
Self-awareness and consciousness, which we use to impact others.
•Learning through life experiences, emotions, mistakes, and growth, etc
Trust me, as time goes on, new medical inventions will emerge because humans create room for growth through real-life experiences, something AI does not have.
So don’t be scared about your future! Open up, be the very best you can be in your field, and you might even be the next person programming AI to help you and others in the medical field.
Thank you.
Don't be afraid to pursue your career choice. AI will never "and cannot" replace humans. Think of it this way: humans created AI.
Humans are not perfect; we make mistakes, correct them, learn, unlearn, relearn, and grow. How can AI suddenly become perfect?
God, who made humans, gave us very unique features to help us navigate this world—and AI is just one of the tools humans have created to make life easier. Of course, we don’t expect perfection in this world, but there is a level of satisfaction that only humans can bring, which AI cannot:
•Empathy and care.
•Emotions such as love, fear, joy, pain, and compassion.
•The ability to think, reason, imagine, and understand meaning
Self-awareness and consciousness, which we use to impact others.
•Learning through life experiences, emotions, mistakes, and growth, etc
Trust me, as time goes on, new medical inventions will emerge because humans create room for growth through real-life experiences, something AI does not have.
So don’t be scared about your future! Open up, be the very best you can be in your field, and you might even be the next person programming AI to help you and others in the medical field.
Thank you.
Seth Cohen, Pharm.D
I am an informatics pharmacist specializing in hospital information systems
7
Answers
Cherry Hill, New Jersey
Updated
Seth’s Answer
Not an MD, but I'm willing to wager that with the current state of robotics and AI, humans will be (say) palpating abdomens for the foreseeable future.
The current AI models in the news today give answers depending on the probabilities they've discovered in their training data. Can an AI look at the movies you've watched and make a recommendation for movies you might like? Sure, it can do that. Getting that wrong has a low probability of morbidity and mortality.
Can an AI examine a patient and their test results and confirm a condition or diagnosis based solely on the training data it's been given? No. Admittedly, humans aren't great at that either. You can find endless stories about medical misdiagnosis or mistreatment, but those stories were based on the experience of a human and their innate biases. A practitioner who does their job poorly is likely to learn or stops treating patients. AI as it currently exists doesn't learn the same way a human does and can't reject bad information when it's patently incorrect. Go look at the recent Wall Street Journal experiment with letting AI run their vending machine.
There was a big gap between the invention of cell phones and the invention of smartphones. AI is currently a flip phone, and not even made by Nokia. It's too fragile to take over all the fields people are promising it can.
The current AI models in the news today give answers depending on the probabilities they've discovered in their training data. Can an AI look at the movies you've watched and make a recommendation for movies you might like? Sure, it can do that. Getting that wrong has a low probability of morbidity and mortality.
Can an AI examine a patient and their test results and confirm a condition or diagnosis based solely on the training data it's been given? No. Admittedly, humans aren't great at that either. You can find endless stories about medical misdiagnosis or mistreatment, but those stories were based on the experience of a human and their innate biases. A practitioner who does their job poorly is likely to learn or stops treating patients. AI as it currently exists doesn't learn the same way a human does and can't reject bad information when it's patently incorrect. Go look at the recent Wall Street Journal experiment with letting AI run their vending machine.
There was a big gap between the invention of cell phones and the invention of smartphones. AI is currently a flip phone, and not even made by Nokia. It's too fragile to take over all the fields people are promising it can.
James Hanson
Pediatric Intensive Care Physician; Consultant
158
Answers
Oakland, California
Updated
James’s Answer
AI, used properly, can be extremely helpful in helping physicians, but for the foreseeable future, they will not replace the benefits of a human who listens, who considers the individual and their needs and beliefs rather than an average, and who uses all their senses to diagnose patients. Pediatricians form very meaningful relationships with their patients and families.
I have colleagues who work with AI companies to develop better AI tools (and to help avoid AI making egregious mistakes). Perhaps you want to be one who helps merge the art and science of medicine with the amazing capabilities of evolving artificial intelligence so all physicians and their patients can benefit!
I do think AI will have a huge effect on diagnostic imaging and dermatology, but primary care, most surgical specialties, Emergency Medicine, Critical Care... will only be enhanced.
I have colleagues who work with AI companies to develop better AI tools (and to help avoid AI making egregious mistakes). Perhaps you want to be one who helps merge the art and science of medicine with the amazing capabilities of evolving artificial intelligence so all physicians and their patients can benefit!
I do think AI will have a huge effect on diagnostic imaging and dermatology, but primary care, most surgical specialties, Emergency Medicine, Critical Care... will only be enhanced.
Rita Chuang
Physician
253
Answers
Henderson, Nevada
Updated
Rita’s Answer
I think there will always be a need for doctors. There was actually an article stating there will be a decrease in primary care physicians in the next 10 years. I'm hoping AI will help with diagnoses, scribing, and formulating letters for prior authorization. I'm sure several jobs will be affected by AI but I think people still want a human connection when they are sick. AI cannot examine a human being.