Why would professionals support tech that makes their labor less scarce? Unfortunately this change won't come from doctors
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There was a thread a while ago on HN where someone mentioned they design EMR and EHR systems and for a particular module they design they couldn't put in autofilled dates because the nurses union saw it as a slippery slope to them being out of a job. Considering good spectrometers embedded in the cameras of smart phones are only a few years away, perhaps full blood panels coming just from the camera of your iPhone, can't say they are wrong.
Doctors might fear it, but healthcare administrators would certainly love for a tool to help make diagnosis faster, more accurate and less expensive.
As a physician, I say most doctors would enthusiastically welcome it. With today's constant threat of litigation, practically all doctors are getting second opinions on every diagnosis anyway to help defend their actions in case something goes wrong. If they can say "Watson agreed with my diagnosis" instead of "Dr. Jones agreed with my diagnosis", work gets done quicker. Waiting for second opinions is hugely annoying and a big time waster in a doctor's day.
If it worked in that way, which it currently doesn't (see comments about question answering systems and Jeopardy) in terms of the state of the art, we're... maybe 30 years off that, like as in we're 30 years off fusion.
Think about the human condition, think about human biology. Be clear- these are systems beyond current science... and doctors deal with them every day!
The current push seems to be in radiology. An AI that never sleeps and can read images and give you a good estimate of whether something is a tumor? It probably wouldn't replace humans entirely but it could be the first place that AI really gets into the process of diagnosis.
Why would professionals support tech that makes their labor less scarce?
That's an odd question. People in tech are always saying "teach everyone to code!!". There's your why...
Because, in theory, if anything goes wrong during the course of a patient's care the doctor can just say "Watson agreed with me" and the chance of litigation drops dramatically.