Ongoing advancements in artificial intelligence tools and speech recognition software could lead to new innovations in the health care field and other industries, but some experts have concerns about technology, the New York Times reports.
About 150,000 U.S. physicians currently use speech recognition software to record and transcribe information about patient visits and treatments, more than three times as many as three years ago.
Although the technology often transcribes medical terminology accurately, physicians note that it sometimes has difficulty with other words and grammar. Speech recognition programs also struggle with understanding the context of language and social situations.
Such shortfalls have led some experts to express concern about the extent to which artificial intelligence technology should be trusted in the medical field. For example, speech software that functions as a simulated medical assistant could evaluate a patient incorrectly or send an ill patient home from the hospital too soon.
However, many experts believe that further development of the technology could help it become a larger contributor to the health care industry. Some believe it eventually could assist surgeons.
Andries van Dam, a computer science professor at Brown University, said, “It’s not human intelligence, but it’s getting to be very good machine intelligence,” adding that “you need human checks and balances, but having artificial intelligence is way better than not having it” (Lohr/Markoff, New York Times, 6/24).
