Silicon Valley is exploring the possibility of introducing AI nursebots to manage your healthcare needs. This initiative comes from the medical startup Hippocratic AI, in collaboration with Nvidia. They aim to introduce voice-based "AI healthcare agents" that patients can interact with through animated human avatar chatbots on their tablets or smartphones.
The concept is illustrated in demonstration videos where at-home patients engage in conversations with these chatbots. For instance, patients receive post-op appendectomy screenings or instructions on administering penicillin. According to Hippocratic, healthcare providers could potentially acquire these nursebots for less than $9/hour, significantly cheaper than hiring a registered nurse at $90/hour.
Munjal Shah, the CEO of Hippocratic AI, emphasizes the importance of patients' trust in AI, which relies on the program's "seamless, personalized, and conversational" tone. Their internal research suggests that people's emotional connection with AI healthcare agents increases with the improvement in conversational speed, termed the "empathy inference" engine.
However, achieving this level of human-like interaction requires substantial computing power. Therefore, Hippocratic has invested in Nvidia's H100 Tensor Core GPUs to support their AI initiatives.
Kimberly Powell, Nvidia's VP of Healthcare, believes that voice-based digital agents powered by generative AI can revolutionize healthcare, provided they respond to patients as human counterparts would.
While Hippocratic assures accuracy and bedside manner in their AI nursebots, concerns remain about potential biases and the sources of diagnostic and conversational information. The company states that their model is trained on a vast collection of proprietary data, including clinical care plans, medical manuals, and drug databases.
Despite the promising prospects, the timeline for deploying AI healthcare agents remains uncertain. Hippocratic is currently collaborating with over 40 beta partners to test these agents across various healthcare tasks.
The introduction of AI nursebots raises questions about the future of human healthcare workers. While it may alleviate the global nursing shortage, concerns linger about the working conditions and wages of healthcare professionals. Some view AI as a scalable solution, but others question the trade-offs, including the considerable energy costs associated with running AI systems.
In conclusion, while AI nursebots present a potential solution to healthcare challenges, their widespread adoption requires careful consideration of ethical, social, and economic implications.