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Gareth321today at 9:11 AM2 repliesview on HN

> I can see this kind of survival-bias stories distorting the reality. To have millions of people asking for "specific tests" because AI told them seems problematic. One in a million will discover something, and that story will be enough to create the believe that is "worth doing the test that AI says" just in case. But...

This is a competition of public and private interests. A sick individual is going to lobby for tests until they discover the cause. From a public perspective, it might be cheaper to just let them die. AI is an advocate for the individual.

For the record, ChatGPT helped me diagnose a lifelong illness. I'm a new man now thanks to AI. Literally life changing. I had spent decades pleading for tests because no one could figure out the cause. I think a likely outcome here is not necessarily 10,000x more tests performed, but similar or even fewer tests, because the diagnosis success rate with AI is higher. It's not subject to bias. People tend to be more honest and reflective with their AI than they are with doctors. They get 5 minutes to give the entire case to the doctor. With an AI they can spend weeks debating and reflecting. This builds a case history far more detailed and accurate than anything we have in modern medicine today. Amplified by an order of magnitude because the AI can extract meaningful insights from the discussion.

In the very near future our AI will contact our GP for us. Soon after that, our GP will be our AI.


Replies

etrautmanntoday at 12:52 PM

I’m not sure how you can come to the conclusion that AI is an advocate for the individual writ large. It seems that AI can just as easily be used to make algorithmic decisions on who receives care (based on symptoms etc). Whether or not that’s an equalizing influence or not depends on the algorithm, training data, etc.

Frierentoday at 12:46 PM

> From a public perspective, it might be cheaper to just let them die.

You missed the point. More tests can be detrimental to the patient's health as increase the risk of unneeded medication or surgery. Also many test like x-rays have their own risks. To do them for the sake of it increases overall mortality.

So, to not over test is not just cheaper but better for people's health.

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