Love Machine

Well, we finally found a definitively positive use for artificial intelligence chat programs: making people more human. According to the NYT (Gift Article), doctors are using Chatbots to improve their bedside manner. “There’s a reason doctors may neglect compassion, said Dr. Douglas White, the director of the program on ethics and decision making in critical illness at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. ‘Most doctors are pretty cognitively focused, treating the patient’s medical issues as a series of problems to be solved,’ Dr. White said. As a result, he said, they may fail to pay attention to ‘the emotional side of what patients and families are experiencing.’ At other times, doctors are all too aware of the need for empathy, But the right words can be hard to come by.” (I’ve occasionally been accused of being cold, emotionally detached, or rude. Now, one hopes, people will realize it’s just that I’m cognitively focused.)

+ “The findings do not mean ChatGPT is actually a better doctor and cautioned against delegating clinical responsibility given that the chatbot has a tendency to produce ‘facts’ that are untrue.” AI has better ‘bedside manner’ than some doctors, study finds.

+ “The transformation will pile pressure on the labor force, especially for higher-wage knowledge workers whose activities ‘were previously considered to be relatively immune from automation.'” Bloomberg (Gift Article): Biggest Losers of AI Boom Are Knowledge Workers, McKinsey Says. (Maybe consultants need a better bedside manner, too…)

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