Hype rating
AI usage
Who benefits?
Patients with COPD, doctors/hospital staff, the British government (NHS), and the AI app company.
What concerns does this bring up?
Patient Freedom
Will all patients with COPD be mandated that they use this third-party app? (What if they don’t have the technology for it?)
Patient Privacy
Is the information on the app kept as securely as it would be kept if it were reported directly to the NHS?
Medical Practice
Does this AI swear the Hippocratic Oath? If the goal is to keep people out of the hospital longer, will the AI developer alter questions or data collection so that it’s more likely to tell people they are ok, even if they are not? To what extent is this AI replacing actual medical care? Is that actually safe?
This app is only related to COPD. For people with comorbidities, more regular appointments with a doctor could actually be more beneficial. Is there oversight to ensure only certain types of patients are being routed to this app?
Taxpayer Money
The NHS is a publicly funded program. Is money from NHS going to this third-party app and is that a fair use of taxpayer money? This article makes no mention of cost savings, but if that is a driving factor, is it actualized?
Additional comments
Even in such a short, factual article, I was able to identify a number of questions and concerns. I find it interesting that the article says they hope to increase the success rate from 40% to 90%, yet gives no evidence of why that number is achievable. Is it just the developer over-promising or is it based on actual facts and figures? Mostly, I find it disturbing that we as individuals and countries are willing to give out our sensitive personal information so freely just to save some time or money.