As a neuroscience major who is on the pre-med track and is getting ready to take the MCAT and apply to medical school, I am interested in how artificial intelligence will have an impact on the medical field. As I was looking for an article to discuss in class, I came across one titled “Paging Dr. AI? What ChatGPT and artificial intelligence could mean for the future of medicine.” I found this incredibly interesting as I really had never thought about the fact that AI could be used to diagnose patients. The article also discusses how ChatGPT was able to pass or nearly pass the medical licensing exam which medical students study hours for. This started to have me thinking whether something like ChatGPT could be incredibly useful in the quick diagnosis of patients and in the planning of treatments. While I agree with this article in that AI would never be able to replace the role of a physician, I do think it could become a useful tool and complement their role. I do feel that there are some loop holes to get around still where AI could potentially produce false information or be misguided by the information it has access to, but with time I think it could become more accurate.
I am curious what data already exists in terms of artificial intelligence being used in the medical field. Are there any cases where physicians or hospitals in general have looked to AI for help? Are there risks with patient confidentiality in using AI assuming it would have to have access to medical records? How may AI be useful not just in the actual treatment of patients but the organization side of things in a hospital? Could it be used to make the ER more efficient or stand in for nurses when necessary? These are just some questions I had while brainstorming this topic. I think this area of interest could be a feasible final project in terms of content. In my DCI 180 final project, I enjoyed the mapping feature so perhaps I could incorporate that somehow if there was enough information on places throughout the country that are relevant to the topic.
