Artificial intelligence (AI) has been around for decades but burst to the forefront of our minds after ChatGPT was released to the public in late 2022. The sudden appearance of such an interactive and convincing use of AI in chatbot form resulted in it being the fastest application to reach one hundred million users in history.1-2 Numerous other large technology players and smaller startups have developed their own AI chatbots and other applications based on these AI platforms. Already, AI impacts nearly all industries in some way, and healthcare is certainly no exception.
Overall, AI encompasses programs that perform functions traditionally performed by humans. In a narrower scope, healthcare AI programs operate within many aspects of day-to-day services including 3-6:
Imaging evaluation and interpretation
Clinical diagnostics, both subjectively and objectively
Providing clinical insights and decision support
Documentation efficiency
Treatment response prediction
Administrative functions, including scheduling and written responses to emails and messages
As AI programs evolve and expand, additional AI use cases in healthcare are expected. Some early stage and future expected applications include 6-7:
Mining large datasets to identify difficult-to-detect trends and patterns
Helping clinicians apply clinical evidence more accurately to patient cases
Targeted drug discovery and development
Predict treatment response via disease markers
Integrate personalized medicine factors like genomics into treatment decisions
Help overcome barriers to healthcare management including social determinants of health, cost, and access challenges
Better prepare for a population’s healthcare utilization needs
Reduce administrative burdens like writing chart notes, summarizing medical information, purchasing and inventory management, billing, and completing routine administrative tasks
As we move into this new age of AI integration within healthcare and all aspects of business and life, questions remain. What are the ethical implications? Who vets AI-generated information, confirms validity and accuracy, and holds these programs accountable? What role do humans and professionals play in this new era? We’ll explore these topics more throughout this series as we venture into an exciting and nerve-wracking ecosystem of technology applications in arguably the most human of businesses: healthcare.
References
Roser M. The brief history of artificial intelligence: The world has changed fast – what might be next? Our World in Data. Published December 6, 2022. https://ourworldindata.org/brief-history-of-ai
Wodecki B. UBS: ChatGPT is the Fastest Growing App of All Time. AI Business. Published February 3, 2023. https://aibusiness.com/nlp/ubs-chatgpt-is-the-fastest-growing-app-of-all-time
IBM Education. The benefits of AI in healthcare. IBM Blog. Published July 11, 2023. https://www.ibm.com/blog/the-benefits-of-ai-in-healthcare/
Roy A. Artificial intelligence: 10 promising interventions for healthcare. NIHR Evidence. Published July 28, 2023. https://evidence.nihr.ac.uk/collection/artificial-intelligence-10-promising-interventions-for-healthcare/
Berry MD. Understanding the advantages and risks of AI usage in healthcare. Thomson Reuters Institute. Published September 27, 2023. https://www.thomsonreuters.com/en-us/posts/technology/ai-usage-healthcare/
Alowais, S.A., Alghamdi, S.S., Alsuhebany, N. et al. Revolutionizing healthcare: the role of artificial intelligence in clinical practice. BMC Med Educ 23, 689 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-023-04698-z
Bhasker S, Bruce D, Lamb J, Stein G. Tackling healthcare’s biggest burdens with generative AI | McKinsey. www.mckinsey.com. Published July 10, 2023. https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/healthcare/our-insights/tackling-healthcares-biggest-burdens-with-generative-ai