Or will it make any significant difference?
New UK research says 1 in 7 people already using AI for health advice instead of contacting their doctor, or mainstream NHS services. The research is reported by Kings Health Partners.
“AI is creating a significant shift in how people access healthcare, yet public attitudes to the technology remain deeply divided, according to a major new study by King’s Health Partners, Responsible AI UK, and the Policy Institute at King’s College London. The research finds that one in seven (15%) of the public have used AI chatbots for health advice instead of contacting a GP or other NHS service, and one in ten (10%) say they have used AI for mental health therapy or wellbeing support instead of seeing a trained professional.”
Kings Health Partners considers this to be an issue, largely because the AI platform did not recommend consulting a medical professional, and recent evidence has shown that AI misdiagnose up to 80% of cases. I suspect that most of the Conventional Medical Establishment will agree that it represents a problem, not least as the government is planning to accelerate the adoption of AI across the NHS.
Yet is this really a problem? Over recent decades doctors have been increasingly ‘programmed’ by the medical establishment about how to diagnose, and how to prescribe. There is little doubt that AI platforms will be similarly ‘guided’ in due course. They will not be programmed to do anything beyond a diagnosis, and a prescription for drugs.
Can you imagine any patient reporting that they are unwell, and AI telling them they should support their immune system with good diet, sensible exercise, and relaxation? Or an AI system will be programmed to suggest homeopathic treatment, or herbal remedies, or acupuncture?
The pharmaceutical medical monopoly is too strong, too powerful. There is not much doubt that conventional medicine will continue to control the guidance patients receive, regardless of where that advice is sought. The pharmaceutical medical establishment tells doctors what to do now. And no doubt they will soon control what AI platforms recommend to us.
So neither doctors or AI platforms are likely to be given much leeway! It is almost inevitable that whoever is consulted, the same or similar advice will be given! Conventional medicine demands conformity, so society will continue to be faced with the consequences of drug-based treatment - increasing levels of epidemic chronic disease.
