Rustat Conference on Artificial Intelligence, Big Data and Healthcare
The use of Artificial Intelligence and Big Data in healthcare is still very much in its early stages, but will expand and have profound consequences.
Dr Bertalan Meskó, ‘The Medical Futurist’, described AI as ‘the stethoscope of the 21st Century'. Machine learning can lead to diagnoses that are faster and more accurate than any clinician could achieve, and AI-enabled robots can perform complex surgeries swiftly and reliably. More broadly, extensive use of AI could result in higher quality care, greater health system sustainability, and reduced error. However, it also brings significant challenges.
In this roundtable, we will discuss: what is the 'state of the art' at the moment in the use of Big Data and AI for healthcare? How much is hype and how much is reality? What may be possible in the next decade, what effects will it have on patients, clinicians, and healthcare systems? Will these advances increase or decrease the cost of healthcare? How do we avoid overdiagnosis? How will the rise in machine 'expertise' affect the role of the clinical expert? Will clinicians be empowered by new technologies, or be reduced to 'serving' the machines?
Also, we will consider the ethical and regulatory aspects. How should sensitive healthcare data be shared, and how should privacy be protected? How do we avoid entrenching existing healthcare inequalities and biases? What level of regulation will get the best outcomes?