Artificial Intelligence in diagnostic medicine – a tool to replace clinicians?

Health care is a complex adaptive system(1). Clinical diagnosis is one aspect of this system and is an additional layer of sophistication, as it relies on complex interactions between clinician and patient. Making a diagnosis is often a'process' rather than an'event'. It involves aspects of deductive reasoning, hypothesis testing, intuitive thought and pattern recognition; in addition to re-testing on the basis of new information provided by patient responses, physical examination, laboratory results and radiographic imaging (2,3,4). Pre-hospital care, primary care and care delivered in emergency departments involves the fullest possible range of clinical diagnostic acumen, as these settings provide advice and treatment on completely undifferentiated patients.