My human doctors rarely have time to talk for long, and don’t seem all that interested in the big picture. Chatbots are different.
Once upon a time, my wife’s uncle, Jim, delivered babies, set broken bones, diagnosed diseases, and helped people reconcile themselves to mortality. That’s what family physicians did in those days.
Things are different now, and the doctor I most often consult is AI. I’d prefer to see Uncle Jim, but if physicians like him still exist somewhere, I doubt I could get an appointment. How I ended up resorting to artificial intelligence—despite excellent health insurance and proximity to great care—says a lot about the state of healthcare in this country.
I tried AI out of frustration, necessity, and yes also curiosity, but it has since become my favorite “physician,” if you don’t mind using the term loosely. Obviously, AI is no substitute for a real doctor in many circumstances. But in many nonemergency circumstances, a real doctor isn’t available. And 20 minutes of his time, if you can get it, isn’t enough to really know a patient or manage his or her health. My experience hints at the usefulness AI may someday have in finding a way out of our expensive, fragmented and ineffective approach to human health. It also highlights deficiencies in the way even elite care is provided today.
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