Question

Regarding the case on IBM Watson, watch the video in below and discuss your thoughts regarding the use of Artificial intelligence (AI) in healthcare. Pros? cons? concerns? timeline?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cxJxXcxF8NY

Answer 1

Note: This response is in UK English, please paste the response to MS Word and you should be able to spot discrepancies easily. You may elaborate the answer based on personal views or your classwork if necessary.

(Answer) With artificial intelligence as an inclusion in healthcare, there shouldn’t be any concerns as such. This is because it can’t possibly cause the deterioration of physical health or bring about a certain contagion. AI in healthcare is more like a non-evasive technique and therefore wouldn’t really be the cause of harmful or alarming effects.

The pros of this technique are that the patients are able to experience new tools to help them recover without any side effects. In some of these cases with Alzheimer’s or dementia, the patient isn’t particularly improving. However, a photograph, a song or something from their old life might help fire up certain neurons and perhaps even slow the progression of their condition. For incurable diseases, slowing down the symptoms itself can be a great progress.

If one might consider the timeline of a condition like Alzheimer’s, it can be noticed that along with the condition itself, the patient would also undergo depression or become irascible in certain cases. This is because they are aware that the condition has taken a toll on their cognitive abilities, their relationships etc. Such emotions might only worsen their state. If AI might be used in order to help them forget their encumbered lives for a while, it would make AI nothing less than therapeutic.

The cons of this method are that one might expect too much from it and this might lead to disappointment from the patient and the professionals. AI, at this stage of development, must be viewed for what it truly is - a way to ameliorate the pain. Here AI is not a cure, assuming that it is a cure would probably disappoint the patient more and might cause them to give up all hopes. Furthermore, the “Simple C” feature should not be assumed to be equivalent to that of a proper visit to the doctor. Although advice might be given by the doctors or other professionals using the system, one should not assume that their needs are taken care of by the app itself. The app should not take away from the importance of a normal and regular visit to the doctor.

Having said that, the program itself helps slow down the timeline of the symptoms of geriatric conditions and that in itself is a great accomplishment.