| |MAY 20248CIOReviewIN MY OPINIONIMPACT OF AI ON THE PRACTICE OF MEDICINE: PHYSICIAN'S PERSPECTIVEBy Yong Wen, M.D Attending Physician, St. Luke's Cornwall HospitalWe are at an age when what used to be sci-fi stories are starting to approach reality. When it comes to AI in medicine, I think of Star-Trek, where the doctor holds a scanner over the patient, and the computer can make a diagnosis and formulate a treatment plan after just a brief scan. The onset of AI will make changes to numerous industries, and many people look at that with apprehension, wondering whether they may still have a job next year. The purpose of this essay is to give my prediction of the impact of AI on the practice of medicine. I have been a practicing nephrologist for over 20 years, spending most of my time in direct face-to-face patient care and some resident teaching. When it comes to the history of technology in medicine, it reminds me of the onset of EMR. First, it was facilitated by looking up lab and diagnostic test results; next note, writing templates, then dictation software and Telemedicine, especially during the pandemic. When it comes to documentation, EMR and existing technology certainly place more information in physician notes, but it also makes the note so much longer and burdensome to read that it actually communicates medically relevant information less effectively. Dictation software does reduce the time required for physicians to translate their thoughts into a legible format, but its error rate makes correction effort burdensome. Telemedicine improves access for patients and allows physicians to see more patients in a given time. However, a telemedicine experience cannot match a face-to-face visit experience in cases where complex information needs to be explained, and a difficult decision needs to be made. Technology does tend to improve efficiency and productivity, but it comes with its drawbacks, and in no cases has technology been able to replace a physician. In terms of pay and satisfaction with their career, modern-day physicians consistently score less than physicians 30 years ago. So, despite technological advancements improving physician productivity, why are modern-day physicians being paid less and are overall less happy than physicians 30 years ago? Well, I suppose that the insurance company, CMS, and society in general are also adapting to using technology to control healthcare costs, and part of the savings comes from paying physicians less. Upon the adoption of EMR, one of the main complaints from physicians against EMR was the demand for their attention, which took away the time and attention that they previously afforded to patients. Patients may also complain that the office visit is conducted with the physician `hiding' behind a computer screen instead of listening to their concerns. So, EMR and technology in the medical field have the potential to diminish the satisfaction of a clinical experience for the patient and physician.A critical concern that people have about AI is whether it will take over their jobs and make their skill set obsolete. To answer that question, it is necessary to analyze AI's and human strengths. The strengths of AI include a. Breadth of knowledge, b.) Memory, c. Organization and curation of information, and d. Speed. A human's strengths are a. Ethics, b. An ability to entail trust (emotional bond/connection), c. Placing different weight on conflicting information to gain a better understanding of the problem (insight), and d. wisdom. Let's analyze the quality of wisdom further. By definition, wisdom is knowledge by experience. Another definition of wisdom is the ability to foresee/predict consequences and ramifications because of one's previous experience. Can AI learn wisdom? I don't think so at its current stage, as one cannot gain wisdom simply by being a voracious reader. AI excels at tasks with an objective in mind, but it is poor at evaluating the consequence of its recommendation from a different perspective (empathy). For instance, let's assign AI the task of acquiring a company with the sole objective of Yong Wen
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