AI’s biggest challenge will be getting along with physicians

April 26, 2016

This article was first published by FierceHealthcare.

As artificial intelligence becomes more powerful and more ingrained in healthcare, the new technology will have to find ways to fit into an industry that has long relied on human judgment.

Venture capitalists should be particularly mindful of this intensifying dynamic that will influence AI adoption in the clinical environment, wrote Kapila Ratnam, a partner at NewSpring Capital, in an op-ed for MedCity News.

AI has already begun making inroads into the healthcare industry and many envision the technology working alongside physicians to diagnose diseases earlier and with greater accuracy. A recent study showed AI can detect skin cancer as well as a board-certified dermatologist, and some experts have said radiologists and pathologists should merge into one specialty to make room for machine learning.

At the same time, AI experts have pointed out that the technology’s ability to mimic human learning also makes its diagnostic power difficult to fully understand.