Smart Support: Artificial Intelligence Will Help, Not Replace, Electrophysiologists

Artificial intelligence (AI)–assisted electrophysiology (EP) shows promise, but even its most ardent advocates aren't ready for full-fledged endorsement--yet. A robot revolution is coming, predicted the Huffington Post in November. Citing Bureau of Labor Statistics data and an analysis by Ball State University's Center for Business and Economic Research (CBER, online June 19, 2017), the article warned that nearly half of American jobs are "vulnerable to automation." Many came couched among counsel to prepare for a changing job market, while others have joined the debate about what machines should and shouldn't be tasked with doing. Medicine hasn't been immune to the debate, leading some clinicians to worry that AI--the same brain behind automation, robotics and deep learning--might someday replace them just as it's predicted to do to workers in many manufacturing jobs.