Clinical Fellowship Chronicles: Will artificial intelligence replace doctors in our lifetime?

By Dr. Tiffany D’souza

After many sleepless nights and hours spent scouring the internet, I’ve realized the answer is more complex and nuanced than anticipated.

The short answer is “No.” However, artificial intelligence will drastically change the doctor’s role and how we practice medicine.

Accurate decision making and empathic communication

Artificial intelligence is revolutionizing Radiology and Pathology from the ground up. It’s better at identifying anomalies in radiographs and pathology images than humans and can also define patterns from thousands of data points when making decisions.

However, artificial intelligence lacks the empathy and support a physician brings to the table. For example, AI can’t decide which tone is appropriate for delivering a scary diagnosis, but a physician can.

Some people speculate that artificial intelligence will cause certain medical specialties to go extinct, but I don’t see that happening. In the future, artificial intelligence will help doctors more make accurate medical decisions, allowing them to communicate diagnoses and treatment plans with empathy, grace, and understanding.

Automating diagnosis and treatment

A physician’s job includes three baseline components: Diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment. As each of these areas moves towards a more data-heavy approach, I foresee almost complete automation of at the very least diagnostic processes in the distant future. These metrics will augment workflows and help physicians make better decisions.

When we think about what makes a certain aspect of healthcare automatable, we must look at the process that drives it. With diagnosis moving towards heavily relying on test results, we have seen a more data-driven approach to diagnostic medicine. As tasks become more data-driven, the opportunity for automation increases. From radiology to pathology, the high image/data-driven nature allows for automation to creep in and become embedded within the framework of healthcare.

Unleash true precision medicine
With a desire to have more targeted and specific treatment plans and drugs, comes the true need for precision medicine. I see artificial intelligence and precision medicine augmenting workflows and helping doctors make better, more accurate decisions. Comprehending the number of data points required for this granular approach to medicine challenges the current blanket approach to the population and suggests a better standard of care.

Doctors work alongside technology

It will take some time before we can automate procedural treatments. For now, the surgeon will remain the sole holder of this skill. Sure, robotics has found its way into surgery, but a genuinely autonomous robot is still something of the future.

The physician will become a facilitator and supervisor of the technology. People with medical training will further develop technology by researching and delving into its many use cases. Machine Learning and AI will become part of the physician’s curriculum and will educate the people who speak the healthcare jargon to help make changes for the better.

The doctor will be working alongside the technology. AI won’t have completely autonomous decision making right now. It’s an assistant to the doctor or a diagnostic tool that will help but can’t be left to do its own thing right now. We have some tools that can perform 20% better, but we can’t use them because AI is held to a higher standard than humans. Should robots and AI have rights because the technology has not been very defined?

Stronger patient-doctor relationships

Doctors will have the opportunity to spend more time with patients, guide them through the healing process, and ease the stress accompanying illness. At its core, the doctor-patient relationship is a deep human connection that is impossible to do away with altogether. Artificial intelligence won’t take over the medical profession but will make doctors stronger and better at what they do.

A machine cannot hold your hand when delivering bad news, but a doctor can. Medicine, at its very core, is a human-centric profession, and I stress the “human” portion of that word more. We cannot deliver high-quality care without the human touch.

Will AI replace the doctor? Probably not, however, it will become an integral part of the team. Consider AI a smart addition to your team. The physician will become a facilitator and supervisor of the technology. People with medical training will further develop technology by researching and delving into its many use cases. Machine Learning and AI will become part of the physician’s curriculum and will educate the people who speak the healthcare jargon to help make changes for the better.

We must not fear the change that is coming but augment ourselves along with it.

Tiffany D’souza

Tiffany is completing a Healthcare Innovation Fellowship at The DICE Group and serves as the Clinical Lead of the AI Lab. She is also an online fitness coach and social media marketing consultant who loves baking cookies, solving crossword puzzles, and exploring the potential of healthcare technology.