Radiology has become a ‘case study for why AI won’t replace human workers,’ CNN says
The radiology profession has become a “case study for why AI won’t replace human workers,” CNN Business says in a news report published Monday.
Goldman Sachs recently estimated upward of 7% of the U.S. workforce could be displaced by artificial intelligence, though the technology also will simultaneously create new jobs. However, previous fears of radiologists being supplanted by computers appear to be proving far from true, the report suggests.
Diagnostic radiologist Po-Hao Chen, MD, with the Cleveland Clinic, highlights AI’s key role today in sorting through data and helping triage exams requiring attention. But the bulk of the work is still handled by a human reader, and AI is only expected to grow demand for rads, rather than reverse it, CNN contends.
“(AI) is not only not replacing those workers, but it’s actually increasing the amount of work they can do and increasing demand for their services,” Jack Karsten, a research fellow at Georgetown’s Center for Security and Emerging Technology, tells the news outlet. “That’s sort of a bright future that the tech industry can point to as far as this is AI doing good in the economy.”
Shadpour Demehri, MD, an interventional specialist with Johns Hopkins in Baltimore, further echoes these feelings, contending AI is helping rads to be more productive, not taking away their core duties.
“It’s something that doesn’t replace anyone, that just makes our job more efficient and more meaningful,” he tells CNN.
The report highlights the growing number of FDA-cleared AI tools in imaging—over 1,000 and counting—far outpacing other areas of medicine. Despite this, the Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates radiology will grow by 5% through 2034, higher than the 3% projection seen across all other occupations. Further, Indeed.com estimates the tally of radiology job postings has grown over the last five years, rather than contract. CNN cites the commonly heard refrain, that demand for advanced imaging, coupled with an aging population, are likely driving these figures.
The outlet also cites a NY Times report from last year, which revisited scientist Geoffrey Hinton’s proclamation that schools should stop training new radiologists. Last year, the Nobel Prize winner clarified that he now believes it is more likely AI will “make radiologists a whole lot more efficient in addition to improving accuracy.” Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang also recently discussed how AI may be helping to boost demand for radiologists.
Marty Stempniak has covered healthcare since 2012, with his byline appearing in the American Hospital Association's member magazine, Modern Healthcare and McKnight's. Prior to that, he wrote about village government and local business for his hometown newspaper in Oak Park, Illinois. He won a Peter Lisagor and Gold EXCEL awards in 2017 for his coverage of the opioid epidemic.