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INTRODUCTION
The first word that comes into the mind by reading the word ‘artificial intelligence’ is possibly robots, technology, and fear, and job insecurity. Artificial intelligence in layman's terms is the intelligence that is demonstrated by machines, that is why it is also known as machine intelligence. In other words, it is not the same as intelligence possessed by animals and human beings (also known as natural intelligence) because the knowledge of humans and animals possess some kind of emotions and consciousness which lack in computers.
While living in the 21st century we have experienced a lot of advancement in technology which is directly or indirectly impacting our daily lives. From online shopping to online education, AI is emerging everywhere, almost in every field. But whatever goes in the world has two sides- Positive and Negative.
While the positive side indicates that our world is heading towards a digital economy, it’s on the path of becoming a developed and advanced nation; it possibly suggests danger to many. People fear that the arrival of AI in the future will pose a threat to their jobs and livelihood. No human can possess the kind of knowledge that AI possesses. Comparing such technological advancements with humans is in reality like comparing an elephant with an ant.
The importance of AI cannot be ignored especially in these unprecedented times when we all are dealing with a pandemic known as Covid-19. Everything’s online. Even though we were not earlier, except a few, well versed with online systems and technology. But a bit of knowledge regarding the same helped us to survive in difficult times. Have you ever thought that if we didn’t have an online tech system, then what would have happened? Nothing but just zero social life and life full of boredness.
Now as technology is heading faster, AI is emerging in every field. Now it has expanded wide its dimensions in healthcare too. It is no longer now science fiction. It is transforming healthcare with indulging robotics in it. It is transforming healthcare by the way of training, early detection, good research on various medicines and diseases, diagnosis, and effective treatment.
HISTORY OF AI IN HEALTHCARE
The term was coined in 1955 by John McCarthy. He founded it as an academic discipline in 1956 in the US. Denedral, the first problem-solving program or the expert system was produced in 1960-1970. It assisted in identifying bacteria and recommending antibiotics. In the 1980s-1990s, the growth of microcomputers and new levels of network connectivity was seen. Basically, the AI system was designed to accommodate the absence of perfect data and build the expertise of physicians.
Between 2010 to 2019, genome sequencing databases were introduced. Databases took the form of electric records in healthcare. From 2019 onwards, there was seen a speedy discovery and development of drugs. Many more health facilities were included such as pre-clinical research, personalized healthcare, etc.
ROLE OF AI IN HEALTH
· Keeping Well- Technical applications in smartphones have much helped the users to maintain and manage a healthier lifestyle. Also, it has led the professionals to better understand the day-to-day patterns and needs of the people. It has lead to the creation of health creation monitoring tools such as FitBit, Apple, Garmin, and others which monitor the heart rate and activity levels. This has also helped the doctors know about the patient from the daily alerts that the application sends.
· Early Detection- AI is used to detect the various diseases, one of the cancers being on top. It detects it more accurately in the early stages. Google’s DeepMind Health is working in partnership with clinicians, researchers, and patients that help in solving and detecting real-world health problems.
· Diagnosis- IBM’s Watson is keenly helping healthcare organizations review and store every kind of medical information. It exponentially gives the result faster than any human. Machine logarithms have the ability to process unimaginable amounts of information. They process the minute details in the medical imaging.
GROWTH DRIVERS OF AI IN HEALTHCARE
The main drivers of growth in healthcare are that it increases individual health expenses. It leads to a larger geriatric population and creates an imbalance between health workforces and patients. It increases global healthcare expenditure. AI helps medical practitioners work efficiently which will help them achieve their tasks with minimal human interference.
CHALLENGES TO AI
The following are the challenges that are potential to India:
· Increasing Development costs
· Integration issues
Ø Ethics
Ø Reluctance to adopt
Ø Fear of replacing humans
· Privacy and security issues
· Data exchange
· State and federal regulations
ETHICAL ISSUES
A lot of ethical issues have been observed by the way of AI. Some of these have been discussed below:
· Unemployment-The first major issue that comes in the way of ethics is unemployment. The creation of automated jobs and machines are replacing humans. It is causing fear in the minds of people since this technology is causing concern. More automated jobs, less employment. Job insecurity is what people are facing due to the coming of AI. The work of AI is irreplaceable.
· Inequality- The salaries and wages in particular to the workers, working in unorganized sector are mostly dependent upon the hours they work for. On the arrival of AI, there will be less reliance on humans. This clearly implies that the companies need to spend less revenue on wages and salaries. Also, the companies that are wholly AI-driven, will completely drove the humans out of the race. Hence, the birth of inequalities will take place.
· Less social interaction- In AI, there is less human to human interaction. People tend to communicate with robots and humanoids. Robots can certainly understand your talks, you say they understand. But possibly they can’t understand the feelings as humans can understand.
· Security- As technology is broadening its dimensions, the cybercrimes have also increased. A lot of security needs to be taken otherwise they can prove harmful to us. We have to protect our AI systems so that they don’t work maliciously and instead of creating harm they provide us well.
LEGAL ISSUES
Since now we know that Artificial intelligence is probably going to dominate much of our lives, it’s important to know the legal implications that it is going to create for us. Law is everywhere and it can’t be ignored. It is an essential aspect of our daily life. The issues we come across while dealing with AI is human rights, Contract and liability, data privacy, and intellectual property.
· Human rights- A simple rule of computer- “Inputs decides output”. Whatever kind of data you feed in the database of AI; it will process the information according to that. What if the data you enter is wrong? Certainly, the output will be also wrong. Certain groups/populations will be definitely at a disadvantage.
· Contracts and liability- In a company, if your client has done some mistake in the contracts with other companies, then you are certainly going to be punishing the employee for the same. But in the case of AI who is going to be held responsible for the same. Are you going to file a case against a robot? Certainly not.
· Data Privacy- There are millions of data available. How this data is going to be protected. Obviously, the algorithm will be saving and storing the data. But the confidentiality of the data is the main issue. It is important that the privacy of data needs to be protected.
CONCLUSION The world is changing as technology is moving faster. Earlier these concepts were mere science fiction but now AI has become a reality. Still, we are not that advanced in the field of AI, but gradually we are heading towards it. Advancements of AI in healthcare can assist human thoughts, human powers, and human resources more efficiently. If AI is a boon, then no doubt it is a bane too. It can dehumanize warfare as AI has such a power that it can kill humans without involving the actual trigger of human. So, while using and adapting ourselves to technology, we need to use to wisely so as to maximize benefits and reduce harms.
REFERENCES
1. SLIDESHARE, https://www.slideshare.net/mobile/KajolDahal1/artificial-intelligence-in-health, (Last visited on Jan 24, 2021)
2. WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM, https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2016/10/top-10-ethical-issues-in-artificial-intelligence/, (Last visited on Jan 24, 2021)
3. STRADIGI, https://www.stradigi.ai/blog/the-key-legal-issues-in-ai/, (Last visited on Jan 24, 2021)