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PCRI Conference interesting points made
Prostate Cancer | Last Active: 5 days ago | Replies (14)Comment receiving replies
Despite being able to beat grandmasters at chess, compose symphonies in seconds, and flawlessly mimic Shakespeare’s iambic pentameter, AI still can’t quite convince the medical establishment it’s worthy of a seat at the microscope. Especially in prostate cancer—where it might spot microscopic metastases faster than a caffeine-fueled pathologist—AI remains the overly eager intern: impressive, perhaps, but not to be trusted with anything sharp. It seems to me that the medical profession is slow to adopt and embrace new technologies. Perhaps it's the centuries-old tradition of clinical caution, or maybe it's the profession's unspoken motto: "If it didn’t come from a peer-reviewed journal printed on papyrus, it doesn’t count." Either way, AI sits in the waiting room, algorithms polished, eager to help—while the doctors debate whether it's safe to let the machine hold the clipboard.
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Hans, I think it is definitely going to be incorporated much, much more in the medical field. However, doctors still must be trained to think, to intuit, to extrapolate and ultimately, diagnose. It is STILL a thinking person’s game, but for how much longer?
A good friend runs the Respiratory Therapy section in our local hospital; she has over 35 yrs experience intubating, rehabilitating lung conditions, etc. She also takes residents on rounds to train them on how to access vital signs: heartbeat, respiration, pulse, etc.
A few months ago, she brought a resident to the bedside of a patient whose breathing had become labored. She asked him, based on the vital signs, what he thought was occurring. He stared blankly and she prompted “Pulse!” “Respirations per minute!” “Lip Cyanosis evident!”
He was lost….until…he pulled out his iphone, scrolled to an app, punched in a few numbers and proudly declared, “Respiratory distress with Acidosis!” Now it was HER turn to stare blankly…
“How did you make that diagnosis? It’s correct.” He smiled like a grandchild would at grandma’s inability to use the TV remote. “It’s an app! Why should I learn any of this shit, when the phone already knows it?”
Needless to say, she left work that day, despondent and feeling truly old. So that could be the flipside of AI having a much greater presence in medicine. Doctors who don’t even CARE about learning “why” and as a result, have no idea how to course correct if things don’t go according to the algorithm.
Phil