This article will highlight perspectives that students looking towards taking medicine should consider due to the prominence of AI in the field, exploring both positive and negative aspects.

We are on the brink, unprepared to plunge into a new age in healthcare. emergence of Artificial Intelligence (AI), has expanded the horizons of medical discovery immensely, in ways that had never been achievable previously. However, artificial intelligence in the healthcare field poses risks of unemployment,  provokes ethical debate and transforms doctor-patient interactions. For aspiring doctors, surgeons, veterinarians, and other healthcare professionals, it is vital to understand the integration of artificial intelligence within the healthcare industry as well as its impacts from both a positive and negative spectrum. 

The incorporation of artificial intelligence in medical environments provides a multitude of benefits. All of these positives contribute to evolving the speed and efficiency of medical procedures, whilst additionally minimizing the cost of medical procedures. This article will highlight 3 of the most prominent benefits of artificial intelligence utilised in the medical industry. Firstly, AI’s algorithms analyze medical data, “such as X-rays, MRIs, and CT scans, to assist healthcare professionals in accurate and swift diagnoses’(Lee, 2023). Based on scans, this technology can be used to determine the risks and diseases at hand but also recommend next steps for the prevention of further illness. Furthermore, AI permits better data-driven decision-making. It offers real-time treatment suggestions, whilst referencing the most recent clinical trials and medical testing, to formulate the best course of treatment for a patient. IBM Watson Health utilizes expert systems to provide and process clinical diagnoses, this method has already met with much approval from physicians, with many recommendations. (Zhang & Wang, 2021). Additionally, AI has evolved the precision and predictability of surgical procedures. Advancements in procedures including, ‘gynecologic, prostate, and oral and maxillofacial surgery’(Moghadasi et al., 2024) have been made. Telesurgery (combination of laparoscopic surgery and robotics) has been majorly enhanced through the enablement of remote surgery. AI has a role not only in surgery but additionally in surgical education. It  allows surgeons to connect and offer advice and guidance to each other during procedures, this improves surgical outcomes as there can be a variety of experienced surgeons on a case. The aforementioned points are only a brief overview of the benefits of AI in medical fields. 

AI will continue to advance and find more ways to improve the healthcare field. This influences the education of healthcare professionals as AI would act as a tool to further enhance their knowledge of medical procedures. However, it is important to understand what negative implications this may bring for future healthcare professionals as well as current ones. 

The previous paragraph has highlighted  the benefits of artificial intelligence in medicine. However, it is of equivalent importance to acknowledge the negative impacts of such an advancement. To begin with, the ethical aspects of AI are quite challenging. In terms of patient privacy, behavioural aspects and unemployment, many obstacles can arise. A significant amount of patient information would be stored within an AI database, this could result in a breach of security due to systems hacking, and hence poses a risk to the patient’s privacy. Robots for healthcare have already been created in numerous parts of the world. Germany has developed a “Garmi Robot”, a humanoid robot that can physically assist a patient during rehabilitation exercises and/or  assist the doctor during the first stages of a telemedicine-based  visit. This poses an ethical debate as AI robots are not yet able to replicate human emotions, which is vital to create the best healthcare service with passionate and empathetic doctors. For instance, in the pediatric sector, children generally experience fear and anxiety when in healthcare environments even without this advanced technology. ‘Their behavioral manifestations are lack of cooperation, withdrawal, and aggression,”(Farhud & Zokaei, 2021) that could be extremely complicated to manage with the new robotic medicine system. Moreover, the advancement of AI has eliminated numerous job opportunities. As healthcare employees have reported layoffs in their work environments in the past year, “18% of healthcare managers blamed artificial intelligence (AI) integration for these layoffs.’(Tebra, 2024). As AI has advanced majorly, it is  predicted to take over fields such as radiology, but also smaller administrative jobs.

To conclude, the modern prominence of artificial intelligence in healthcare demonstrates a significant shift in the healthcare setting. It provides both numerous opportunities and a variety of challenges for aspiring medical professionals. Future healthcare workers must adapt to AI evolution, whilst remaining aware of the possible risks of job displacement and ethical debates. By developing a flexible mindset and prioritizing the human elements of care, medical professionals can efficiently find a path through this enhanced medical landscape, establishing the importance of human compassion and efficiency in patient care. The rapid advancement of the artificial intelligence age has shown to be unpredictable to future generations of medical specialists as they must be prepared to adapt their ideologies to fit that of modern society.

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