Using image-analysis "AI" to diagnose cancer or whatever sounds good until you realise they'll use it as an excuse to fire healthcare professionals and defund hospitals.
They're trying to save money, not lives.
Even in the best case scenario (Human-in-the-loop, where they have a human check the AI's results) what will happen is that the senior oncologist reviewing your tests will be replaced by an underpaid, overworked medical intern in an underdeveloped country.
But even if you believe the capitalists won't take this chance to offshore medical care (lol.), even if you think that an expert will still be reviewing your results...
Studies show humans get less accurate when they know results have been pre-checked by an AI.
The only way AI could lead to better outcomes would be if it was used alongside existing systems: in other words, if those in charge of funding healthcare were willing to pay for an expensive doctor AND an expensive AI checker.
And if you believe that's what they'll do, I have a bridge to sell you.
As someone who lives in a country with free healthcare, socialised medicine won't fully solve the tendency to cut costs at the expense of our health.
Is it better than the alternative? Absolutely!
But in a capitalist society, governments aren't immune to market pressures.
Politicians know that "we're going to lower taxes AND remove that pesky human error from the mix" is a far more popular pitch than "we'll raise your taxes so that your results are also reviewed by AI"
So what you can do about this?
- Educate others about the dangers of using AI in healthcare
- If possible, opt out of any automatized services
- Support healthcare workers
- Unionize. Especially if you're a healthcare worker!
- Protest and strike
Remember: we're stronger together 💪
