Incorporation of artificial intelligence in healthcare professions and patient education for fostering effective patient care

Abstract

Artificial intelligence (AI) influences many aspects of modern life and has multiple applications in the delivery of healthcare. AI is designed to mimic human capabilities including pattern recognition, data analysis, and decision‐making and perform tasks more efficiently. It is capable of detecting patterns in large datasets that might elude human beings. AI has potential to improve patient care, patient safety, disease diagnosis and treatment; public health; health research; health administration; and the daily work of health professionals. In 2019, the US National Academy of Medicine emphasized the need for “physicians, nurses, and other clinicians, data scientists, health care administrators, public health officials, policy makers, regulators, purchasers of health care services, and patients to understand the basic concepts, current state of the art, and future implications of the revolution in AI and machine learning.” Therefore, it is incumbent on adult educators to incorporate AI training into health professions education and patient education.