Building a Future Where AI Strengthens Human Care
Artificial intelligence and the algorithms that run it have changed the world. People around the world use AI to learn random facts, study for school, and make their jobs easier. However, easier doesn’t always equate to better, especially when it comes to human-centered work.
Doctors, nurses, pharmacists, and social workers directly affect their patients’ well-being. With that in mind, they should only use tools that they know will help provide the best outcome. Many people debate whether or not AI should even be allowed in human-centered fields.
Others believe that, while it’s okay to use, skilled professionals must use algorithmic solutions responsibly. Finding a balance doesn’t have to be as difficult as it may seem. Follow along as we explore how algorithmic solutions fit into human-centered work.
Automation affects countless industries throughout the world. However, it’s safe to assume that technology can’t replace people in healthcare, therapy, and social work. Human-centered fields rely on people engaging in meaningful conversations with others.
While technology won’t replace doctors and nurses, AI may soon become more common in healthcare and similar fields. That statement alone can scare people, but it’s important to note that using AI doesn’t mean replacing people. However, using AI in human-centered fields comes with several risks that are worth knowing, such as:
Algorithm-based technology, such as AI programs, quickly analyzes a vast amount of data to provide prompt answers. While this technology is intended to improve over time, it doesn’t necessarily start as fine-tuned as you might hope. That’s especially true regarding AI’s ability to understand context, as explaining context to a program is difficult.
Without context, you can’t count on an algorithm to offer the best solutions for your specific situation. Context typically accounts for all the nuance in any given human-centered scenario. This is especially important when using AI in nursing, as knowing the context is half the battle in healthcare.
Nurses can’t solely rely on AI algorithms to reach solutions regarding their patients. You can use AI as a valuable tool, but relying on it too heavily is a disservice to your patients. Providing context and explaining nuance can strengthen AI algorithms through machine learning.
Algorithms typically use years’ worth of data to generate solutions. Since humans across many cultures have a history of bias, this data is likely tainted. Sure, a generative program isn’t human, but it relies on information that comes from human history, including all the faults.
Blindly trusting algorithmic information means that you may overlook the biases within it. This can be a big disservice for those you’re serving, and you may prevent them from getting the best possible care. Granted, you can avoid this problem if you’re careful and know better than to trust everything the algorithm generates.
However, this raises the question of whether the algorithm is even necessary if people must intervene so much. With time, skilled professionals can hopefully find a balance to harness technology while still prioritizing the human touch.
Critical thinking is an important part of any human-centered job, whether it be nursing or social work. Nurses, clinical social workers, therapists, and doctors deal with nuanced situations that require critical thinking. Relying too heavily on algorithms to help you navigate these situations can have some bad long-term results.
In some ways, using AI-powered tools can replace your need to think critically, as the technology does much of the work for you. This can be devastating at any stage in your career, but it’s worse for young professionals. The early stages of your career should entail a certain amount of trial and error, and that learning curve is valuable.
Turning to AI tools instead of working through such problems may gradually make you dependent on them. Using such tools doesn’t mean you’re bad at your job, but you should at least be careful not to use them too often. That way, you can use the hard skills you learned in school while developing soft skills in the field.
If there’s one thing that AI lacks, it’s emotional intelligence, which should come as no surprise. Being aware of someone else’s emotions, picking up on their cues, and empathizing with them is essential. AI cannot do any of these basic things, no matter how useful it is.
Because of that, you must constantly rely on your emotional intelligence while using AI. An AI algorithm may recommend you do something that goes against what your emotional intelligence tells you. In that case, you must trust your gut instinct and rely on your emotional intelligence to help you reach the best outcome.
You can’t hold it against AI when people choose algorithmic solutions over emotional intelligence. These people in question are more to blame in that situation, as the decision is ultimately up to them. The key is to use AI as a tool without devaluing your emotional intelligence.
Artificial intelligence is here to stay, and many people understand that. However, you can’t blame someone for fearing the repercussions of an overreliance on algorithms, especially in human-centered fields. As long as doctors, nurses, and social workers learn to put more stock in their skills than they do in AI, there’s nothing to worry about.
Those working in human-centered fields can easily use AI without negating their skills and emotional intelligence. After all, AI can’t yet offer exact solutions to specific, context-sensitive cases that require critical thinking. However, nurses can use AI to quickly go through tons of data, which can make a big difference in emergencies.
That alone should ease some minds regarding the use of AI in healthcare, as time is everything. Quickly accessing information can save lives and alter treatment plans without negating a doctor’s ability to make decisions. Balance is the keyword, and the healthcare world gets closer to achieving it each time nurses and doctors use AI as a tool.
