Q&A: Slepian Weighs in on AI in Healthcare
For many people of a certain generation, the first time they became concerned about how artificial intelligence might interfere with their lives was in 1968. That's when HAL 9000 told Dave Bowman, "I'm sorry, Dave. I'm afraid I can't do that," in response to a command to open the pod bay doors in the science fiction classic "2001: A Space Odyssey."
Fast forward 55 years and artificial intelligence is playing an increasing role in almost every industry. In the medical field, AI-powered treatment options are on the rise. But a study led by University of Arizona Health Sciences researchers found that, when it comes to diagnosis and treatment, about half of the participants said they preferred a human doctor over AI.
The research team, led by BME clinical professor Marvin Slepian, found that most patients aren't convinced the diagnoses provided by AI are as trustworthy as those delivered by human medical professionals.
How is AI already being used in an average visit with a health care professional?
There is a spectrum of use by different individuals. Many physicians use chat platforms as enhancements to their care. For example, I know some physicians who take a patient's history data and put it into a chat program to get it back in a more organized format. Some also use it to put together data, references and other information about a particular disease or condition to give to a patient.
Some medical practices use AI platforms to organize data about best practices and treatment of their patient base in general. They can see how many patients are on a certain diabetes medication or how many are taking a certain anti-hypertensive (blood pressure) medication and get information and insights about the results. So, they're using it for their own research and analytics.
Artificial intelligence-based analytic tools are also used in laboratory and imaging areas like radiology. For example, a radiologist who has been looking at X-rays all day may miss a little aspect of a certain shadow. Having an AI analytic tool to complement what the radiologist is seeing provides them with an independent read.
As AI technology continues to evolve, how might it be used in the future in a health care setting?
I think more advanced platforms will allow us to develop more endpoints as we gain information on a patient. I think of it in a multi-scale way. What I mean is, a physician talks one-on-one with a patient. Moving "up," that physician can collect information about that patient's family, demographic group and community. Moving "down" it will be possible to get information from the patient's organs or cells or molecules. AI platforms will increasingly allow us to make multi-scale connections using information from all of those levels.
Wearable technology will also continue to get better. They will have a wider range of accelerometers and gyroscopes. Instead of measuring basic movement, they're measuring total movement – pitch, yaw and roll, like an airplane. So, in addition to a patient telling me that they are fatigued and short of breath, the wearable is giving me these digital biomarkers, allowing me to dig deeper. As we increase our access to digital and chemical biomarkers, we get closer to true precision medicine and basing our treatment on each individual.
Now, will we have "Dr. Robot" as the future for how we take care of patients? Probably not, although that kind of technology could help doctors take care of patients in a super-remote area, a hazardous facility or even the moon.
What can you say to reassure people you surveyed who were less likely to want AI involved in their health care?
That's a very important question. There will always be individuals who are averse to this or have apprehension regarding this. That puts the onus on us as providers to understand their concern. Perhaps with some education, some of that can be overcome. But we need to accept that for many, it will not be overcome.
I think the most important thing is to reassure individuals that they ultimately have the choice about their treatment – the patient is ultimately the final decider about their care. For example, we may tell a patient, "It appears that you have this unusual variant of a condition. You fit within this general group. I know that from years of experience, through the value of AI and additional testing. I have looked at treatment options that AI has come up with and I agree, but you have the choice as far as what to do."
I think if you have that type of relationship, then AI is a tool. It's not running the show. Everybody is empowered by that.