EP451: Hey, Let’s Not Talk About Artificial Intelligence, With Spencer Dorn, MD, MPH, MHA

In Episode 451 of Relentless Health Value, host Stacey Richter converses with Dr. Spencer Dorn about the implications of AI in healthcare, referencing lessons learned from EHR implementations.

They discuss Kranzberg's first law of technology, which advises against labeling a technology as inherently good, bad, or neutral, emphasizing instead the importance of its application, configuration, and the human decisions surrounding its use. Dorn and Richter explore both the potential benefits and drawbacks of AI, drawing parallels with past experiences in healthcare digitization.

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The first takeaway from this short show focused on artificial intelligence is gonna be the same, really, as it was in episode 446 about EHRs. Do not ascribe any given technology a label of, as good, bad, or even neutral. That is Kranzberg’s First Law of Technology; and it applies here, too.

Second major takeaway—and again, this is the same as in that earlier show about EHRs, but today we’re talking about AI—if you’re thinking about the ultimate impact of the people and the processes that have some technology in their midst (technology, again, such as AI, artificial intelligence), the ultimate impact will not be a black-and-white binary.

We talk about some of these nuanced not binaries in the 10 minutes that follow, but for more, I’ve put some links in the show notes on our epsiode page for some newsletters et cetera to check out.

05:23 What could happen with AI in healthcare if we aren’t thinking about how we’re deploying it?

05:58 How could the lessons from digitizing healthcare help us with employing AI?

08:25 How could artificial intelligence make things better and simultaneously worse?

10:55 Why is it important to look beyond the hype and pessimism and make a clear-eyed assessment?