Have you ever dreamed about unlimited office visits with your primary care physician? Would you consider it a huge benefit to be able to see him or her the very day you need them? For most people, the idea of discussing diet, exercise and future health concerns with their doctors is a pipe dream, only achievable if you pay hundreds of dollars per month for a concierge physician membership. If you are older, your cost per month may be far higher than what younger people pay.
Many Americans have chronic conditions, sometimes multiple chronic conditions. They may need help managing multiple health concerns with multiple doctors and contraindicated medications. Your doctors really do not have time to sit down with you in a group and discuss new medications, old medications, and changes in various conditions while monitoring new ones that may be developing. The coordination alone would be a nightmare.
It used to be that your local doctor seemingly had the time to address all patients’ questions. Of course, back when doctors made house calls, they often had few tools compared to today’s standards. From the Wall Street Journal, Daniel Akst wrote:
Once upon a time, my wife’s uncle, Jim, delivered babies, set broken bones, diagnosed diseases, and helped people reconcile themselves to mortality. That’s what family physicians did in those days.
Things are different now, and the doctor I most often consult is AI. I’d prefer to see Uncle Jim, but if physicians like him still exist somewhere, I doubt I could get an appointment. How I ended up resorting to artificial intelligence—despite excellent health insurance and proximity to great care—says a lot about the state of healthcare in this country.
Mr. Akst, 69, laments that getting in to see his doctor is difficult. “It’s like getting an audience with the pope,” he reports. His doctor is booked up weeks in advance, and a 20-minute office visit really is not enough to discuss all the things that need discussed. Why your doctor is so busy is a discussion for another day. There are multiple reasons.
Akst found an artificial chatbot, Grok, works quite well when he needs time to discuss subjects his doctor would never have time to address. A blood test showed he had an iron deficiency. A hurried doctor merely said, “eat lentils” with no further information about which food to pair with it and which to avoid. Then he asked his AI chatbot Grok:
[W]hen I asked what I ought to eat if my iron levels are a little low. The response, a model of clarity and nuance, was immediate and free: “To raise low iron levels, focus on iron-rich foods and pair them strategically to boost absorption.” It then listed foods that might help, starting with meats, followed by three helpful bullet points.
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“Pair non-heme iron foods with vitamin C sources (e.g., bell peppers, oranges, tomatoes) to increase absorption.”
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“Avoid consuming calcium-rich foods (dairy), tea, or coffee with iron-rich meals, as they can inhibit absorption.”
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“Cook in cast-iron pans to add small amounts of iron to food.”
Asking your doctor for specific advice on nutrition is a bad idea. Doctors are taught almost nothing about nutrition. Furthermore, they have better things to do than tell you what to eat. Akst points out that AI can convey a level of detail your doctor would never have time to entertain, even if he or she had the knowledge.
…I described some mysterious symptoms that any or all of them could be causing (and that my physicians largely ignore). Are these symptoms just an inevitable part of aging, or something worth addressing somehow?
While old age can contribute, Grok opined, “your symptoms are specific and severe enough…to suggest underlying medical issues rather than just aging.” Grok then ran through each of the symptoms, with recommended steps for further testing and treatment—a virtual road map for navigating my health issues. I had never had anything remotely so coherent from any of my doctors…
AI is good at talking about disease conditions but could never replace your doctor. This is partly because only your doctor can order tests and prescribe medications, but also because AI is an algorithm, not a human who can reason. Each has their strengths and weaknesses. Perhaps the day will come when your doctor is paired with an AI chatbot that can answer all your questions and address your concerns, with relevant portions of the chat archived in your medical record for your doctor to later address. That could (at least in theory) prevent you from having to repeat yourself each time you talk to the chatbot.
Read more at WSJ: AI Is the Doctor Who’s Actually Available and Gets Me. Meet Dr. Grok