DocGPT

April 12, 2024 --

We knew it was coming. Now it's here. Computers diagnose better than humans.

In Are You Ready for AI to Be a Better Doctor Than You? published today in Medscape Medical News, Joe Kita writes of artificial intelligence applied to medicine.

ChatGPT made the correct diagnosis in 97% of patients compared to 87% for human doctors.
Missed diagnoses are a big problem in healthcare today so this is good news for patients, right?

Often, the doctors are not pleased. Sometimes with good reason. For example, clinical labs are an area of effective AI enhancement. One doc observed, "...he's had several instances where patients received their cancer diagnosis from the lab through an automated patient-portal system rather than from him." Surely patients would prefer to hear this from humans.

My own opinion? On balance, AI in healthcare is a good thing. MDs will grow accustomed to using AI for its strengths (esp. diagnoses). But let's not fall for the hype cycle. AI is having a media frenzy right now. Eventually, AI-based tools in healthcare will settle into place -- they won't replace doctors (or nurses!) -- and quality of care will rise.

Go tech-savvy clinicians!

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