{"id":1193,"date":"2019-05-28T17:32:16","date_gmt":"2019-05-28T07:32:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thejugular.org\/?p=1193"},"modified":"2019-05-28T17:32:16","modified_gmt":"2019-05-28T07:32:16","slug":"2020-a-health-odyssey","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jugular.org.au\/index.php\/2019\/05\/28\/2020-a-health-odyssey\/","title":{"rendered":"2020: A Health Odyssey"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n \t<\/i> Read Time:<\/span>4 Minute, 54 Second <\/div>\n\n <\/div>\n

In the film 2001: A Space Odyssey<\/em>, Kubrick depicts the character of HAL 9000, a sentient AI who progresses past mere advanced computational abilities and develops intrinsically human emotions. In the hallmark scene preceding HAL\u2019s deactivation, it pleads, in its half-human and half-metallic voice: \u201cWill you stop, Dave…I\u2019m afraid…I\u2019m afraid Dave.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Half a century after the film\u2019s release, AI is beginning to be implemented into all areas of our lives, and healthcare is no exception. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But that leaves us with some pretty big questions: in exactly what ways will AI affect health outcomes? Will the ethics we abide by now be shaped into something entirely new? And how will the role of doctors change in the coming decades? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

1: DNA analysis<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By analysing our unique genome sets and correlating them with scientific analysis, AI algorithms may be able to dictate the \u2018best\u2019 lifestyle for each of us to lead. This has already taken flight in the field of nutrigenomics, with companies such as LifeNome <\/em>and DNAFit <\/em>selling the idea that their AI algorithms formulate approaches to diet and exercise based on individual DNA analysis. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"https:\/\/lh5.googleusercontent.com\/9gno0lDpdmeekTRq5IFFXt_Qex4V-Ci2O5Y3H_blXBuKUxHtRT1LDbtxvLlhQmPo1KZzmsQsGemBJJAtxpOUGi3_VQcVIFnzsNCL1KQUqtFJBFs0y9CTsahs7qIMmuUg8WJzQhJd\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Taking this idea to the next level, who says AI algorithms won\u2019t be able to analyse the genes that present a higher risk of schizophrenia? What about breast cancer? Or the biggest killer in Australia right now, heart disease?   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Complementary to this concept of gene analysis is gene manipulation, which brings with it a tangle of ethical issues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Imagine a scenario in 2030, where Jenna, a long-time patient of yours, walks into your consultation room. She is planning to have a baby. However, pre-natal screening indicates that her baby, Steve, has genes presenting cystic fibrosis. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jenna pleads for you to help remove those genes, \u201cPlease, I want my baby to live a good life. That\u2019s all.\u201d You can hardly find it in her heart to reject her, and so you organise the gene modification procedure. So far, so good, right? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"mage<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Now imagine Jenna comes back, a week later, asking you to implant genes for a stronger immune system so Steve doesn\u2019t have to suffer from seasonal colds as he grows up. Another month passes, and she says it would be \u2018real good\u2019 if Steve could grow up to be tall, handsome and athletic. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Oh, and smart. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

At this point, you begin to feel unsettled at the idea of creating this \u2018designer human,\u2019 but can\u2019t really explain why. After all, you and Jenna have similar interests; to give Steve the \u2018best<\/em>\u2019 life possible, right?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now let\u2019s take another hypothetical, and think about Dorothy, another pregnant patient. She\u2019s not as well off as Jenna and has not even considered<\/em> the costly idea of gene modification. What, then, happens to her baby? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Evidently, new technology brings with it a plethora of complicated questions, that we may have to answer sooner rather than later.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

2: Surgery<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"mage<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In the fall of 2017, a Dutch hospital used an AI-assisted surgery robot to suture small blood vessels \u2013 some no larger than 0.03mm. And this begs us to imagine a scenario in the future where an AI mechanism becomes responsible for everything from radio-imaging to analysis, from the first incision to the last suture. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Everything mechanically done, without stress, tension or fear. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A serious consideration here is a cost-benefit analysis. A single robot can cost more than $2 million, and each surgery it conducts can cost up to 10 times more than a traditional procedure. Many critics have pointed out the lack of benefits to justify this insane pricing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But drawing up a comparison, the Apple I prototype cost a present equivalent of $3000 when it was released in 1976. Now, we can purchase an Asus notebook for $300 at DickSmith.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

3: Clinical practice<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The dream of every doctor and medical student is the Siri equivalent of medical practice, where a doctor is able to ask, \u201cHey Siri, what\u2019s the best painkillers for osteoporosis in a 65-year old man with severe allergies to blah<\/em>?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Or a nurse is able to ask, \u201cHey Siri, what kind of medication is patient 5517 on?\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this way, AI algorithms can help medical practitioners navigate through the plethora of administrative and medical information in studies and journals, giving them the most up-to-date solution. The supercomputer IBM Watson Health claims to be able to achieve this, but it has been met with blazing criticism from the medical community. According to one doctor in a Florida hospital:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis product is a piece of s—. We bought it for marketing and with hopes that you would achieve the vision. We can\u2019t use it for most cases.\u201d <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What now?<\/strong>
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"mage<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Despite the many ethical, economic and technical hurdles that face the implementation of AI in healthcare, even its most fervent critics don\u2019t dispute the massive opportunities it presents. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In his book \u201cDeep Medicine\u201d, Topol writes \u2013 \u201cInstead of robots coming into medicine and further eroding of what\u2019s left of the doctor-patient relationship, AI may actually enhance it.\u201d AI can massively reduce the time spent on \u2018repetitive\u2019 things, such as admin duties, trawling through medical journals and analysing radiology scans. This gives practitioners more time to do what they do best – talking to and counselling their patient through a healthy life. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

All the same, issues relating to the patient\u2019s ethics, religion, values and lifestyle can only be ever approached by a fellow human, and the best decision made by an AI based on medical statistics may not the be most patient-centred one. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Conclusion<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Medicine, conventionally a mixture of the sciences and humanities, may, with the incorporation of AI, shift towards a more human-centric art. Ironically, AI wouldn\u2019t automate medicine, but only make it more and more human.<\/p>\n

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In the film 2001: A Space Odyssey, Kubrick depicts the character of HAL 9000, a sentient AI who progresses past mere advanced computational abilities and develops intrinsically human emotions. In the hallmark scene preceding HAL\u2019s deactivation, it pleads, in its half-human and half-metallic voice: \u201cWill you stop, Dave…I\u2019m afraid…I\u2019m afraid Dave.\u201d<\/p>\n

Half a century after the film\u2019s release, AI is beginning to be implemented into all areas of our lives, and healthcare is no exception.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1194,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[19],"class_list":["post-1193","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-features","tag-featured"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jugular.org.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1193","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jugular.org.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jugular.org.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jugular.org.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jugular.org.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1193"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/jugular.org.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1193\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jugular.org.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1194"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jugular.org.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1193"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jugular.org.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1193"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jugular.org.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1193"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}