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Would You Rather See a Computer or a Doctor?
Podcast

Would You Rather See a Computer or a Doctor?

Bapu Jena and Mary Diduch
Freakonomics Radio, 2022
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Editorial Rating

10

Qualities

  • Analytical
  • Concrete Examples
  • Engaging

Recommendation

American ER doctors typically work 10-hour shifts, and during a normal shift they might see up to 30 patients. They have to take a medical history for each of those patients, order the right tests and follow the clues to make a diagnosis for each one. Then they have to come up with an appropriate treatment. These doctors are operating under a tremendous burden of “decision density,” meaning that they have to make a disproportionately large number of important decisions every hour. Given the circumstances, it’s a wonder they diagnose people correctly as often as they do. This episode of Freakonomics, MD explores the role that algorithms could play in medicine.

Take-Aways

  • Artificial intelligence can help doctors with their two most essential tasks: making a correct diagnosis and choosing the best treatment.
  • Predicting heart attacks is difficult, invasive and expensive. Early research suggests that AI can make heart attack prediction easier, less expensive and more accurate.
  • Depending on their inputs, AI algorithms can perpetuate or help dissolve existing biases in the medical industry.

About the Podcast

Freakonomics, MD is part of the Freakonomics radio network. It’s hosted by Dr. Bapu Jena, a Harvard physician and economist.

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