A recent article on Medscape opined that the overwhelming majority of physicians are making diagnostic errors and that increased use of artificial intelligence (AI) could help alleviate this problem. Art Papier, MD, a dermatologist and medical informatics specialist, described some specific devices currently on the market designed to help the modern practitioner. The article sparked a lively debate in the comments section among a broad range of healthcare professionals. Some were not fully on board with all of this new technology. One acerbic physician assistant predicted the course that medicine might take:
The day is coming when you will pull up to the first kiosk, tell it your symptoms, pull up to the second kiosk where you give a drop of blood, then pull up to the next kiosk for your prescription. CMNHI (Corporate Medicine No Humans Involved) is the wave of the future, and I wasted all this time on education and experience.
A primary care physician thought the traditional methods of examination were still best:
I find that an appropriate history with clinical exam and a fair amount of differentials to exclude still works fine!
And another healthcare professional saw increased use of AI as a crutch that was weakening the very skills it was designed to support:
