A Giant Leap: How AI Is Transforming Healthcare and What That Means for Our Future

Wachter (The Digital Doctor), chair of the Department of Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, offers an evenhanded and insightful exploration of the ways artificial intelligence could impact the medical profession. Recognizing that “nearly one million Americans are severely harmed or killed by medical mistakes every year” and that the current healthcare system is wildly expensive and often inaccessible, Wachter argues that “AI doesn’t have to be perfect to be better.” He examines possible physician uses of AI, explaining how its ability to analyze vast datasets could enable more personalized patient care, and explores how patients might benefit, noting, for example, that AI scribes can document patient-doctor conversations, thus freeing up the physician for more present and genuine connections. Wachter doesn’t see AI replacing doctors anytime soon because its biggest shortcoming is “a lack of expansive thinking and real-world experience,” but he does believe that it can automate administrative tasks, decreasing the amount of time spent on paperwork and the frustrations associated with filing pre-authorization forms with insurance companies. Throughout, Wachter clearly and concisely explains the complex technology and its possible medical uses and makes a convincing case that AI will usher in “something of a golden age in healthcare.” The result is a clear-eyed road map of AI’s potential in medicine. (Feb.)