AI in patient care:
promise, peril, and the battle for control

Here is a five-step framework that captures the realistic trajectory of how AI will transform healthcare delivery, specifically in infectious diseases. The goals of patient care – today and tomorrow – are to secure a diagnosis and initiate the appropriate treatment by history taking; physical examination; creating a “hitlist” with “more to less likely” differential diagnoses;  if necessary to order tests/imaging procedures to confirm or rule out diseases to establish the final diagnosis and make an individual treatment plan. Steps 1-3 will substantially increase the quality of medical diagnoses and but steps 4 and 5 are crucial as that is where “the money is”.  These 2 steps expose the fundamental tension that will determine whether the AI-transformation benefits patients or primarily serves economic interests. The promise of the AI framework AI-driven medical history taking will capture more comprehensive and consistent information from available electronic databases than hurried human interactions. Missing pieces of information can be highlighted and added...