MD vs. Machine - How AI Really Affects Patients' Lives

When we think of AI, we often think of clunky robots falling over the stairs or a sci-fi movie that involves robots taking over the world. The general public’s understanding is that if there's AI, there's probably a robot in the vicinity somewhere. However, this is only a small part of how AI is operating in the real world.

The True Nature of Artificial Intelligence

When it comes to artificial intelligence, machines 'think' differently from humans. If we look at natural intelligence and how it operates, we can see that we make judgments and decisions based on a series of sequences. The outcome of a decision is based on our memory of previous outcomes and our current understanding of the world.

As humans, we are skilled at collecting and collating data through our various senses. We often store this data in the form of memory and relay them to our clinicians as snapshots and self inferred trends. However, health is something that happens every day through the accumulation of choices and lifestyle decisions. This is something that our doctors don't get to see. They only see what you present to them.

Artificial intelligence is the encapsulation of decision-making in a programmatic format. However, AI is mostly useless unless there is data to process. The hardware that gets paired with the AI is the equivalent of the senses available to the person. It has the ability to collect data, feed it into the various algorithms and return an output that is useful for the person analyzing it.

In the space of healthcare, this data collection and AI analysis are massive for preventative care and personalized on-going patient education.

COVID-19, Fitness Trackers & Early Detection

Fitness trackers have been around for more than a decade. During this time, they have evolved into much more than just devices that track how many steps you've made in a day. The hardware now includes sensors that allow for the ability to track your breathing, heart rate variability, blood oxygen levels, and ECGs. From this information, the AI can deduce when you're asleep, alert the user with early prevention for things like potential low-blood sugar, and aid in remote clinical monitoring.

The latest incorporation of fitness trackers with AI is COVID-19 detection without the need to go in for a nose or anal swab. Wearable tech is much less invasive and more widespread in current usability. Academic researchers and clinical trials have begun using big data and AI processing to detect potential warning signs of infection before a person becomes symptomatic.

Before the pandemic, the University of California's Osher Center for Integrative Medicine was already studying and developing an AI that detects the early onset of hyperthermia based on big data obtained through fitness devices.

The invasiveness of traditional monitoring is often enough to put off a patient. However, the ease of use, lower cost, and accessibility of wearables make it easier to develop AI that can accurately predict and understand the end-user. This is because patients and users change over time. The ability to accurately collect information allows an AI to make better decisions.

Big Data, AI, and Simulated Human Thinking

Good AI is a system that can function independently and intelligently. Unlike human learning where knowledge and analysis are obtained based on a person's personal experience, AI 'learns' through statistical analysis. This means the bigger the data set, the higher level of accuracy.

In healthcare, hardware connects the physical world to the digital by transforming the physical into data points. Big data is the accumulation of data points over time. AI allows a business or clinician to externalize human thinking and analysis, which can reduce the initial overheads for the users.

It is cheaper to produce and distribute an AI-powered product that can provide someone with the same and ongoing knowledge inference services based on the data than to hire a specialist to do a one-off preventative diagnosis.

Co-authored by:

Dave Wesley ~ President, SRG
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Aphinya Dechalert ~ Marketing Communications, SRG
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