Columnist considers the future of radiologists as A.I. gains momentum
Denver-based radiologist Jason L. Kelly, MD, wrote a recent editorial for Forbes, pondering what the future of medicine will look with so many companies putting big money in artificial intelligence.
As one example, he cites IBM’s Watson and the company’s recent acquisition of Merge Healthcare.
“With 30 billion medical images acquired through Merge Healthcare, Watson is going to medical school,” Kelly wrote. “If, at the end, it can tell a hemangioma (benign) from a cholangiocarcinoma (very bad), then the days of my caffeine-driven, carbon-based perception machine are numbered.”
Kelly compares being in healthcare in 2016 with being in the horse-and-buggy industry more than 100 years ago. Some may have been focused on how to make buggies more affordable, but before long, the horse and buggy were out of the equation altogether.
“If we’ve learned anything, it is that the answer is rarely how to use old technology better but rather how to bring new technology to bear,” Kelly wrote. “In medicine we appear to be at the precipice of real automation. Computers will soon be able to do what doctors do better and cheaper. And that is not necessarily a bad thing—unless you’re a doctor.”
Click below to read the full text of Kelly’s opinion piece:
Michael has more than 18 years of experience as a professional writer and editor. He has written at length about cardiology, radiology, artificial intelligence and other key healthcare topics.