Another Sunday and another post…..with all my visits and stuff with my doctors I thought this article would be a good one and hopefully will make people think.
Most of my regulars know that I have no love for AI or anything to do with it….so when I read this article I felt it needed to be passed on…..
If you weren’t convinced we’re spiraling toward an actual cyberpunk future, a new bill seeking to let AI prescribe controlled drugs just might.
The proposed law was introduced in the House of Representatives by Arizona’s David Schweikert this month, where it was referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce for review. Its purpose: to “amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to clarify that artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies can qualify as a practitioner eligible to prescribe drugs.”
In theory, it sounds good. Engaging with the American healthcare system often feels like hitting yourself with a slow-motion brick, so the prospect of a perfect AI-powered medical practitioner that could empathically advise on symptoms, promote a healthy lifestyle, and dispense crucial medication sounds like a promising alternative.
But in practice, today’s AI isn’t anywhere near where it’d need to be to provide any of that, nevermind prescribing potentially dangerous drugs, and it’s not clear that it’ll ever get there.
Schweikert’s bill doesn’t quite declare a free-for-all — it caveats that these robodoctors could only be deployed “if authorized by the State involved and approved, cleared, or authorized by the Food and Drug Administration” — but downrange, AI medicine is clearly the goal. Our lawmakers evidently feel the time — and money — is right to remove the brakes and start letting AI into the health care system.
The Congressman’s optimism aside, AI has already fumbled in healthcare repeatedly — like the time an OpenAI-powered medical record tool was caught fabricating patients’ medical histories, or when a Microsoft diagnostic tool confidently asserted that the average hospital was haunted by numerous ghosts, or when an eating disorder helpline’s AI Chatbot went off the rails and started encouraging users to engage in disordered eating.
https://futurism.com/neoscope/new-law-ai-replace-doctor-prescribe-drugs
Sorry but as long as I can I will resist this ‘service’ ….I do not want soul-less piece of tech crap diagnosing my medical situation. and because I am old hopefully I will pass on before this is the rule of the day.
Does this make Americans healthier?
Will this protect us from debilitating disease?
Will this improve Americans quality of life?
What say you?
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“lego ergo scribo”