I’ve been learning about AI lately. Not because I particularly want to, but because it does very much represent the future of where the world is heading. And so, I’ve concluded that if I ignore it, I’m at risk of becoming a luddite. For many people that may be fine, but for me, trying to run a business, that would be bad.
There are many applications of AI which can be used in healthcare. The main point is that AI can help look at everything that’s happened (the data) and discern patterns to predict what’s likely to happen in the future. This could help pick up problems early. As an example, tracking how many times someone opens the toilet door (if they have the technology installed) could alert the team looking after them of urinary frequency, prompting a phone call to screen for a urinary tract infection (UTI). That’s just one example.
What does this all rest on?
Logic and rationality. The point being, computers don’t really have emotions. And if they do, they’re simply learning to mimic human emotion. Rational decisions mean that we make optimum choices, balancing risks and benefits from all that’s happened before. That’s the great part about computers – they don’t carry emotional baggage (unless we set them up that way).
How does that differ from our lives as humans?
Let’s face it, we are by contrast products of the combination of nature and nurture – as it is said. We make choices partly based on logic (optimised) that would be looked at as rational and reproducible: “Anyone would make this decision given the options available”. And then we make all sorts of other decisions, purely based on our idiosyncrasies and some version of emotional mush.
Is that such a bad thing?
I don’t think so. What I’ve found so far in life, from observing and talking to many people in the capacity of being a doctor and beyond, is that at its core, being intelligent, rational and logical has nothing to do with being happy and necessarily finding joy. These things, are by contrast, very emotionally driven, as are their converse – being sad. These are the emotional oscillations in life, that add colour to our day.
Intelligence can be stimulating, no doubt, and indeed, fascinating, intriguing and conjure curiosity. Yet still, it can leave you with a certain degree of emptiness. So yes, as we approach the dawn of AI, to marvel at AI, embrace it if it must be. But don’t rely on its superpowers to ultimately effect your emotions.
A hope
The case for AI in healthcare is often justified by its role in all the back end work, the logic heavy lifting, so that humans at the front end can be more human, including delivering care with a sense of warmth and empathy. I think this could be true. I certainly don’t love doing paperwork or tapping away on a computer when I’m with a patient. However, equally, I hope we don’t all drift towards being in awe of logic and computers such that the human touch accidentally gets overshadowed and less valued.
In the end…
I was recently in the audience at a talk given by a doctor involved in delivering voluntary assisted dying (VAD). And whether you support VAD or not, what he said was a timely reminder, that in those final moments, when someone is about to voluntarily end their life, sometimes surrounded by family, other times not, what they talk about and always say they’ll miss, are aspects of human connection. The people in their lives, the times they spent with them, and how important they are. Never about work or technology. I’m not sure if that’s a “logical” conclusion, but it seems to be the most important final one.
Driven by Soul,
Floyd
