Doctors, Patients Shouldn’t Let Fear Define The AI Debate

The warnings about artificial intelligence keep getting louder.

The companies building the world’s most powerful AI systems are reporting troubling behavior from their own creations. And some of the researchers closest to the development of frontier AI warn that powerful new systems could “cause human extinction.”

Scientists fear losing control. Government leaders in the United States and abroad are debating how to keep increasingly capable models from causing harm.

These concerns must be taken seriously. But as a physician, I worry that fear of AI will cause our nation to overlook an extraordinary opportunity: harnessing narrower applications to improve patient care and save lives.

Consider a question I often pose to medical professionals. If you had the time to check on patients every day, would you be able to detect complications earlier and improve outcomes?

Almost always, the answer is yes.

For postoperative patients, that could mean identifying a surgical wound infection early enough to begin antibiotics without delay. For patients with chronic heart failure, it could mean treating at the earliest signs of acute decompensation. And for people with diabetes or hypertension, it could mean monitoring closely enough to maintain effective blood glucose and blood pressure control.

I saw the value of more frequent outreach and evaluation when I was CEO of The Permanente Medical Group. From 2000 to 2015, heart-disease and stroke mortality among Kaiser Permanente members declined roughly twice as fast as it did nationally. TPMG also controlled hypertension in 85 percent of patients, compared with 54 percent nationally.

However, that kind of care requires substantial clinician time and organizational resources. Most medical groups cannot afford to provide that level of attention consistently. There are not enough doctors, hours or dollars to do so nationwide.