[bandoti]

Lots of nice thoughts that I agree with. But there is a lot of value creation in AI as well, beyond building things.

For example, how can doctors save time and spend more time one-on-one with patients? Automate the time-consuming, business-y tasks and that’s a win. Not job loss but potential quality of life improvement for the doctors! And there are many understaffed industries.

The balancing point will be reached. For now we are in early stages. I’m guessing it’ll take at least a decade or two for THE major breakthrough—whatever that may be. :)

[fumeux_fume]

I seriously question the premise that productivity gains from the use of AI (if they really exist) will translate into quality of life improvements. If 20 years of work experience has taught me anything, it's that higher productivity typically results in more busy work. More busy work or more work that gives the employer the most value rather than the customer or employee. So the doctor in your example gets more patients rather than higher quality interactions. Some people will get to see a doctor sooner but they still get low quality interactions.

[linsomniac]

>Some people will get to see a doctor sooner but they still get low quality interactions.

Or: The AI tooling will be able to allow the lay-person to double-check the doctor's work, find their blind spots, and take their health into their own hands.

Example: I've been struggling with chronic sinus infections for ~5 years. 6 weeks ago I took all the notes about my doctor interactions and fed them into ChatGPT to do deep research on. In particular it was able to answer a particularly confusing component: my ENT said he visually saw indications of allergic reaction in my sinuses, but my allergy tests were negative. ChatGPT found an NIH study with results that 25% of patients had localized allergic reactions that did not show up on allergy tests elsewhere on their body (the skin of my shoulder in my case). My ENT said flat out that isn't how allergies work and wanted to start me on a CPAP to condition the air while I was sleeping, and a nebulizer treatment every few months. I decided to run an experiment and I started taking an allergy pill before bed, while waiting for the CPAP+nebulizer. So far, I haven't had even a twinge of sinus problems.

[orev]

Some allergy pills (diphenhydramine) are also so good at causing drowsiness they’re sold as sleep aides. Make sure you control for that in your personal testing.

[linsomniac]

I'm using Zyrtec (Cetirizine Hydrochloride), which among the second-gen allergy pills is more likely to cause drowsiness. My primary indicator is lack of sinus headaches at night and in the morning, there could be some correlation to sleeping through a headache if I'm drowsy because of it, but I also seem to be clear during the morning and day, and before going down this path I was lucky if I could go a month without just being miserable due to a headache. It's probably worth it for me to try another of the second gen options.

[bandoti]

Given this anecdote I can imagine doctors having AI access to a network of the latest studies will certainly help better inform everyone.

Ultimately, doctors are the experts doing the studies, but AI being there to help will certainly add value.

Avoiding any percentage of misdiagnoses is a huge win and time saver.

[bandoti]

Only time will tell! But it’s worth a try.

[leosanchez]

> how can doctors save time and spend more time one-on-one with patients?

Do you think they will spend more time with patients or take in more patients?

From what I have seen in my country they would do the latter.

[kbelder]

>Do you think they will spend more time with patients or take in more patients?

Well, taking in more patients per doctor is what will decrease the cost for the patient (so would increasing the number of doctors). Often, I'd rather be shuffled in and out in half the time, and be charged less, than charged the same and be given more time to talk with the doctor.

[orev]

People working in specialized fields (doctors, programming, etc.) don’t get paid by the hour, they get paid for their expertise, so less time spent doesn’t mean a lower price.