Making peace with artificial intelligence being used in healthcare settings
While I'm no expert, I believe AI has the potential to speed up MS research
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In a column I wrote a couple years ago, I noted that, despite my fascination with the subject of psychology, I have only an amateur understanding of it. We can add artificial intelligence (AI) to the long list of things I’m not an expert on. I know what it is and have done some light reading on the subject, but to avoid any confusion, everything you’re about to read in this column is just my opinion.
When I was growing up, AI was often portrayed in science fiction books and films as an evil entity that would appear sometime in the future, even if being evil wasn’t explicitly the intention. That future is here now, and one of the areas where AI is becoming increasingly prominent is healthcare. Given that, I believe AI will play an important role in the care and treatment of multiple sclerosis (MS).
When I was in the Army, I often heard a phrase that I’m now guilty of using on my own children: “This is happening, so make peace with it.” I think that’s true about AI as well, especially in healthcare. It really doesn’t matter whether I like the idea or not. AI is already being used in MS healthcare, and I think its role is only going to get bigger. So I’ve made peace with it.
That isn’t to say there aren’t potential flaws that need to be addressed. The main one I can see is that AI is still completely reliant on the information available to it, and that information can be biased. For example, what is known about MS continuously changes. If a database isn’t updated with current, factual information that is reviewed, then the output will be as outdated as the input.
There is also the question of how it would treat subjective data provided by a patient. If it has been given the premise that all information provided by patients is unreliable, then that input will never be given the consideration it deserves. The ability to sort and summarize massive amounts of data quickly is of little value if it is already flawed by human bias.
Coincidentally, that ability to sort and catalog large amounts of information is one of the advantages of using AI, from what I can tell. As much as I might like to believe it sometimes, I am not my neurologist’s only patient. Using an AI tool to sift through all my data and history and provide an accurate summary frees up my team to focus on providing care.
For the same reason, I suspect AI is invaluable to handling data from research and clinical trials, which require complex computing and consume quite a bit of time. Used properly, AI has the potential to cut down on that time significantly and speed up MS research. For me, that research can’t happen fast enough, so I’m a fan of anything that might make it more efficient.
Healthcare isn’t the only thing that AI could make more efficient. For the record, I haven’t used any AI tools for writing this column yet. As of now, I don’t have any plans to do so, although it probably would be an improvement. You’ll most likely be able to tell if I ever do, because I won’t ramble as much.
Note: Multiple Sclerosis News Today is strictly a news and information website about the disease. It does not provide medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. This content is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have read on this website. The opinions expressed in this column are not those of Multiple Sclerosis News Today or its parent company, Bionews, and are intended to spark discussion about issues pertaining to multiple sclerosis.
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