Over the past several decades, I’ve earned a good portion of my living performing colonoscopies – tens of thousands of them. And risking a charge of heresy, I’ll say out loud that patients deserve a better colon cancer screening experience. Progress is just around the corner. Here’s a list of negative aspects of the colonoscopy experience. I’ve got some street cred here. Although I am usually on the operator end of the scope, I’ve also personally experienced the light at the end of the tunnel. Pre-test anxiety over the outcome. Ingesting liquid dynamite – often in the middle of the night - and praying for a complete cleanse. Time away from work. D-day! Enjoy IV needle placement, repetitive interviews, posh medical garments and the dignity of a public airing of high-amplitude flatus. The procedure has risks of complications, albeit at a low rate of occurrence. Driver must be present. Post-test anxiety over pending biopsy results. High aggregate cost including fees from the phys
Artificial intelligence (AI) has arrived and will permeate every aspect of our society. It will touch all of us in our work, in the arts, in entertainment, in our government, and in our culture. As with all technology, it will deliver us both blessings and curses. We have been sharply warned of its potential destructive capability even by advocates of this technology. Will governments, industry, and the public agree on proper guardrails and restraint or will the tiger simply be let out of the cage? I worry that the strategy will be Ready! Fire! Aim! , instead of adopting thoughtful and prudent measures to keep us safe. Indeed, I’ve offered some sober thoughts on this issue to my readers in a prior post . My medical journals are now riddled with studies on various medical uses of AI portending an unimaginable future in the medical profession. A few paragraphs further down in this post, I will ask my readers a philosophical question regarding AI and I invite a dialogue. Until