Opinion: The rise of artificial intelligence means doctors must redefine what they do
Artificial intelligence will not result in the extinction of physicians. But it will redefine what the human doctor of the 21st century will do.
Doctors are an insecure bunch these days. We work under the threat of being replaced by machines smarter than us. Vinod Khosla, a Silicon Valley venture capitalist, says that the medical profession is approaching extinction and predicts that the majority of our work will eventually be outsourced to algorithms and other artificial tools of clinical reasoning.
He’s partly right. But I think my profession is headed to evolution, not extinction.
Much of what we once did with our eyes, hands, and ears has been replaced by machines. In my corner of the United States, a child who comes to an emergency department with abdominal pain is likely
