Once a Professor...
Warning Signs

Do We Want to Know?

Recently, medicine has made great strides in predicting who will suffer from some of the diseases we fear.

Studies of people with mild cognitive impairment using machine-learning techniques and beta-amyloid imaging may be able to predict the onset of Alzheimer’s Disease up to two years before the first symptoms appear.

And studies of BRCA1 and BRCA2 gene mutations allow us to know if we face an increased risk of breast and/or ovarian cancer. These are just two examples of scientific advances that might complicate (or save) our lives.

And now, there is news from the “Medical Brain” team at GOOGLE. According to Bloomberg News, using artificial intelligence software and thousands of data points, it is possible to predict, with reasonable accuracy, the outcome of a hospitalization, how long it will last, and if the patient will die.

Would you want to know?

Comments

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Juliet

No! A wrong prediction can have such a tragic impact, and I don't trust these predictions; not if they come out as definitive.

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