AI Will Give Your Doctor Superpowers

It manages our phones and homes, helps us navigate, and advises us what to watch, read, listen to, and buy. Soon it will transform our health, says trauma surgeon and data-science expert Rachael Callcut, MD, MSPH. There is a certain amount of bias that we, as humans, bring to any clinical scenario: Without even realizing it, we may look past critical pieces of information that could help our patients get better. AI, which is essentially a computer algorithm that learns from data, can uncover patterns that we can't see – either because of those biases or because the human brain simply can't assimilate the vast quantity of medical data that is now available from hospital sensors and other digital health devices. Ultimately, AI promises to reduce human error and make our care more efficient, which will improve outcomes for our patients.