User:Jonah Kutell/Medical AI in Society and Culture

Medical AI in Society and Culture

Artificial intelligence have become widely discussed and researched due to their applicability and popularity in contemporary media, the discussion began in the early 50's and since have been implemented into numerous fields including medicine where they have been used to assist surgeries, organize data and in medical imaging, their future in this field is questionable and the public image of AI have been affected due to the influence of media.

History of Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Since Alan Turning published a paper in 1950 about the potential opportunity of creating a computer that can behave autonomously, artificial intelligence and such research has become increasing funded and promoted in the public eye.AI is characterized as the creation of specific computer algorithms which will allow computer systems to be able to solve complex problems that require decision making.Since this process is quite expansive, the field of AI has become a multidisciplinary field involving input from linguists, computer scientists, mathematicians and physicists, and due to this, has become a field that can be encompassing of many and be applied numerously.AI capabilities are widespread and include but aren't limited to theorem proving, language processing, speech recognition/understanding, image interpretation/vision, and robotics.Currently, AI is already being implemented greatly in fields such as ride-sharing apps, robot manufacturing, self driving cars, smart assistants, disease mapping, and social media monitoring and many other fields including in technologies that assist in medicine and medical research.AI can be further broken down into virtual and physical applications, virtual would be with applications and computer programs that aid technological functionalities, physical applications take the realm of robotics which may be functioning variably based on the programming.

Artificial Intelligence in Medicine

Artificial intelligence is currently prevalent in medicine and has provided many opportunities to aid physicians in the diagnostic process, surgical procedures and in research. Use of AI in medicine breaks down to virtual and physical applications, the virtual applications consist of technological applications which may provide assistance in data collection of health records.Physical applications include robotics which may be utilized to assist surgeons during procedures. Current usage of medical AI include their use for virtual scheduling of appointments and online check-ins for medical centers, virtualization of medical records, reminder calls for appointments and immunizations. Da Vinci robot surgical system which was created by Intuitive Surgicals, implements AI directly in the operating room to assist urological and gynecological surgeries by providing greater stability, precision and 3D visualization to allow the surgeon to multitask.Radiology is another field which AI have infiltrated, providing assistance in administrative tasks such as image taking and storage.Latter and future usage of AI will assist in diagnostic processes of radiology through CAD (computer assisted diagnosis) programs that may be used to identify maladies found in imaging. Future research into the introduction of AI in the medical landscape revolves around utilizing AI to aid in literature search/research which is often time consuming and other virtual and physical applications which may reduce administrative workloads for physicians and provide physicians greater liberties to multitask.

Implications of AI on the Role of the Physician

Artificial intelligence software's that utilize convolutional neural networks have been found to have diagnostic capabilities that are comparable and in many situations more effective and quicker than physicians in diagnostic abilities. Studies are currently underway to attain an idea if it is possible for AI to imitate or experience human emotions that may be necessary in medical fields such as empathy.Patient/physician relationships may be benefitted from the implementation of empathy as this empathetic relationship allows for the devising of more efficient plans of therapy which decrease error and increase patient satisfaction, overall allowing an enhanced effectiveness in the treatment of conditions.Current designs and technologies at the forefront of the AI research scene shows that machines are not yet capable of feelings, but studies aim to understand the possibilities of creation of AI which can imitate and develop emotions. The future of medical AI research is centered around the creation of artificial systems to aid physicians in the organization of the massive amounts of data such as genomic, clinical and imaging data and in the analysis of such data to ultimately allow physicians to have more time to be spent with patients and working on diagnosis.

AI robot with artistic capabilities

Cultural Perceptions and Interpretations of Artificial Intelligence

Roles of Film and Literature on Societal Interpretations

Literature and film are internalized and personalized based on the individual to reflect their personal values and norms.Revealing the ethos of society through the sensory stimulating stories that present themselves appealingly, literature and film exhibit influence onto public perception of broad social and cultural situations that would normally not be focused upon.Literature and film can in situations amplify tensions within the general public to a great level. The 1938 broadcast of the War of the Worlds was widely influential during the broadcast, creating widespread panic due to the experiencing of real time illustration of a genuine invasion during a time of tension, furthermore the news broadcasting provided contextual commentary on the media environment at the time.In 2004, shortly after the release of the film, The Day After Tomorrow, a Yale research study showed that after watching said film 83% of film viewers were very concerned about the potential consequences of global warming compared to 72% that were very concerned who haven't seen the movie.

Medical Artificial Intelligence in Literature and Film

AI have been in discussion in contemporary media, literature and films since the conception of it's possibility. Medical AI have appeared throughout the history of literature and film and continue to shape the public perception of said AI.

Medical Artificial Intelligence in Star Wars

Hoth Medical Facility Set with Robot Doctors

AI as seen in films including Star Wars show highly intelligent machines that are capable of complex thoughts to both interact with humanity and carry out tasks such as translation, medical rehabilitation and combat.Star Wars was massively popular and culturally influential toward acceptance of technology as it shows a universe where AI and robots are accepted and utilized as a normal part of life.In a study from University of Cambridge, Exposure to Cinematic Depictions of Robots and Attitudes Towards Them, the study measured the perceptiveness and acceptance of robots being used in daily life measured against the number of movies seen which depict robots and AI being used positively.The results show a positive correlation between these two variables, as Star Wars is one of the films included, showing how it's depiction of AI influence cultural perception.In the Star Wars franchise, robotic surgeons are seen repairing severed limbs, babies are delivered by robotic midwives, and general medical robots are seen being held responsible for rehabilitation, all of which are widely accepted and unquestioned within the series.

Bionic hand design that was depicted earlier before conception in the Star Wars franchise

2001: A Space Odyssey

The visual cortex of the AI, HAL 9000 which gave it visual acuity

Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey portrays the entirety of the progression of mankind from early apes in prehistoric times who were influenced by a monolith to develop, all the way to a space faring civilization which have developed sophisticated space travelling technology and artificial intelligence.Featured in this film, is an AI machine named HAL 9000 which shows to be capable of complex thought and emotions, being responsible for the maintenance, healthcare and welfare of the spaceships and crews, and eventually turning on them, thus inspiring future research and lowering public perceptivity to looking into the possibilities of emotional intelligence as seen in robots.

Medical Artificial Intelligence as Seen in Star Trek

The cult classic series and book series of Star Trek explores the ideas of the futures of humanity that may have a universal influence, exploring the boundaries of space and the species which may inhabit it.Being such an early influence upon the societal perceptions of technologies, the series emphasizes this through the implementation of many AI characters but specifically AI doctors which are imagined as holograms with emotional functionality and abstract thinking in order to support the medical needs of the crew during space travel.

I, Robot

I, Robot was published in 1950 by Isaac Asimov and later developed into a film in 2004, depicting a series of short stories which revolve around a society that have implemented the usage of AI in all fields and have accepted them into society, from law enforcement to medicine.The robots are accepted based on their following of three fundamental laws of robotics, the first being that a robot may not directly or indirectly harm a human, second being that a robot must follow the orders given from a human except if that order conflicts with the first law, the final law being that robots must protect themselves unless this interferes with the other two laws.The featured robots are anthropomorphic in both physical appearance and in emotional intelligence and are shown in a light which threatens the existence and control that humanity has over it's environment, thus contributing toward negative associations and decreasing perceptivity towards robotics and AI through fear of robotic superiority.