Navigating health technology: the challenges and the rewards

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Note opening BANG using a similar eg of double-edged sword...

defective genes can now be edited to treat diseases. But the same technology could theoretically be used to design babies before they are born, or select employees and grant university and medical school places based on genetic qualities.

Genomics has made precision medicine possible, which promises to treat serious diseases like cancer, but is very expensive. Left on its own, it is very likely that only the rich will be able to afford precision medicine, leading to serious inequity in healthcare.

use generative AI to reduce toil. One immediate opportunity is to automate repetitive and time-consuming tasks, such as routine documentation and reviewing of medical records. ...The information will still have to be reviewed by a healthcare professional, before becoming official medical records. It will therefore not replace the human, but enhance our efficiency

explore the use of AI for imaging, to improve quality of care. A word of caution here: imaging AI is very powerful and can pick up even the most minute anomalies, but not all anomalies seen in a scan are clinically significant. We should use AI imaging technology responsibly, to detect and follow up only on clinically significant signs, and manage them in good time before they become serious, without causing unnecessary worry and alarm.

With AI, it is now possible to have disease prediction models that are far more sophisticated and multivariate, including parameters such as health status, lifestyles and social, economic circumstances. The addition of genetic information can make such models even more powerful.

Qns: 

1. To what extent is artificial intelligence replacing the role of humans? (Cam. 2019)

2. ‘Medical advancements have not created a better world for mankind.’ Do you agree? (NYJC Promo 2022)