AI Helps Foster Better Person-to-Person Communication
In recent years, the first thing most doctors do when they enter the exam room with a patient is log into the in-room computer and start to take notes — which can be off-putting to patients.
Now devices can ease this process, such as PLAUD, an AI voice recognition device that attaches to a cell phone. Just the size of a credit card, the device enables conversations to be easily recorded. It not only streamlines note-taking but also enables a physician to listen intently to a patient’s concerns instead of furiously jotting down notes.
“That device is already helping transcribe conversations into notes and then into a patient’s electronic medical record,” Dr. Stewart said. “This helps save doctors the work of having to input patient information.”
AI Can’t Be a Compassionate Human
The one thing AI can’t do is show compassion, at least not yet. The someday “vision” when a robot will gather intel about a patient’s symptoms and even offer a diagnosis does have some downsides. There is no replacement for human interaction, especially in the case of dire health news.
“If you have signs of a metastatic cancer and a nonhuman is delivering this news, there’s no way AI can share this news with compassion,” said Dr. Stewart.
For now, AI is becoming instrumental in helping reduce the number of extra demands on primary care doctors, as well as physicians in other specialties, so that they can continue focusing on what matters — healing patients.
A version of this article first appeared on Medscape.com.